Netflix Removes Chinese Drama from Vietnam After Territorial Dispute Over South China Sea Map

Netflix has been forced to pull a popular Chinese romantic drama from its Vietnam platform after authorities in Hanoi demanded its removal over scenes featuring a controversial map claiming disputed territories in the South China Sea.

The streaming giant complied with Vietnam's 24-hour ultimatum to remove "Shine On Me," a 27-episode series that had been ranking among the platform's Top 10 shows in multiple Asian markets before the ban.

The dispute centers on images appearing in episode 25 of the series, which show the so-called "nine-dash line"—a boundary China uses on its maps to mark its territorial claims across vast stretches of the South China Sea.

The controversial scene occurs during a lecture about China's solar power potential, where the main characters view a projection displaying a map of China that includes portions of the nine-dash line on an auditorium screen.

Vietnam's culture ministry condemned the map as "inaccurate" and "infringing upon national sovereignty," issuing its removal demand on January 3.

By Tuesday, a BBC verification confirmed the series had been completely removed from Netflix's Vietnam platform, though it remains available in other territories where it had gained popularity, including Singapore and Taiwan.

The nine-dash line represents one of Asia's most contentious geopolitical disputes. China uses this U-shaped boundary on its maps to demarcate territorial claims over approximately 90% of the South China Sea, including numerous islands, reefs, and their surrounding waters.

Multiple nations vehemently contest these claims. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei all assert their own rights to various portions of these strategically and economically vital waters.

In recent years, Beijing has increasingly asserted its sovereignty claims by expanding some islands, constructing structures on them, and conducting sea patrols that have occasionally resulted in heated confrontations with other nations' naval forces, particularly the Philippines.

China argues its claims rest on historical evidence dating back centuries, including pottery fragments and navigational guides used by Chinese fishermen, which Beijing says prove ancient sovereignty over the region.

The Chinese government maintains that various island chains in the South China Sea—particularly the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which the nine-dash line encompasses—have been integral parts of the Chinese nation for hundreds of years.

Vietnam hotly disputes this historical narrative. Hanoi insists that China never claimed sovereignty over South China Sea islands before the 1940s and asserts that Vietnam has actively governed the Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes since the 17th century, with documentary evidence to support these claims.

In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague delivered a landmark ruling against Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, finding them inconsistent with international law.

Beijing refused to recognize the judgment, continuing to assert and expand its presence in the disputed waters despite the international legal defeat.

Beijing has not issued an official government statement regarding Vietnam's ban of the Netflix series. However, China's state-run Global Times newspaper published an article on Tuesday urging Hanoi to "separate cultural exchanges from [the] South China Sea issue."

The editorial suggests Chinese authorities view the ban as an unnecessary politicization of entertainment content that should remain separate from territorial disputes.

For Vietnamese authorities, the nine-dash line represents a red line that consistently draws official action, even as the government works to contain anti-China sentiment on most other issues.

While many topics could provoke public outcry in Vietnam—including depictions of the Vietnam War that citizens consider insulting—the territorial dispute in the South China Sea is one of very few issues on which the Vietnamese government permits and even encourages public criticism of China.

This stance reflects how deeply the sovereignty question resonates with Vietnamese national identity and security concerns.

"Shine On Me" is far from the first production to fall victim to the territorial dispute. Between 2019 and 2024, Vietnam filed eight written takedown requests with Netflix, according to the streaming platform's transparency reports.

In 2023, Vietnamese authorities also ordered Netflix to remove another Chinese drama, "Flight to You," over similar map imagery.

Chinese productions aren't the only entertainment affected. Warner Bros' Hollywood blockbuster "Barbie" was banned in Vietnam in 2023 for featuring the nine-dash line, as was DreamWorks' animated film "Abominable" in 2016.

These repeated bans demonstrate that major international studios and streaming platforms have struggled to navigate the sensitivities surrounding South China Sea territorial claims, often inadvertently including imagery that triggers Vietnamese government action.

The South China Sea represents far more than symbolic territory. The waters contain crucial shipping lanes through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass annually, making them economically vital to the entire region and beyond.

The area also holds significant fishing resources that sustain the livelihoods of millions across Southeast Asia, and potentially substantial oil and gas reserves beneath the seabed.

Control of islands and their surrounding waters carries military-strategic implications as well, with the potential to project naval power and monitor maritime traffic throughout one of the world's most economically dynamic regions.

For Ghanaians and other Africans, the South China Sea dispute offers instructive parallels to territorial and maritime boundary disputes on the continent.

Several African nations have faced similar challenges regarding offshore territorial claims, particularly as oil and gas discoveries have increased the economic value of maritime boundaries. Countries along the Gulf of Guinea, including Ghana, have navigated their own maritime boundary determinations with neighboring states.

The dispute also illustrates how entertainment content can become entangled in geopolitical tensions—a dynamic increasingly relevant as African entertainment industries grow and content circulates more widely across international platforms.

Ghana's own experience with Chinese investment and presence across Africa adds another layer of relevance. As African nations balance economic relationships with China against sovereignty concerns, Vietnam's firm stance on territorial issues demonstrates how smaller nations assert their interests even when dealing with a much larger power.

The incident highlights the complex challenges facing global streaming platforms as they expand into markets with varying political sensitivities and territorial disputes.

Netflix and other services must navigate a minefield of potential content violations that may be acceptable in some markets but trigger government action in others. A map that appears innocuous to most viewers can become grounds for content removal in territories where sovereignty claims are contested.

For content creators, particularly those producing entertainment in or about disputed regions, the "Shine On Me" ban serves as a reminder that even background details in scenes—like a map projected during a lecture—can have significant political ramifications.

As territorial disputes in the South China Sea show no signs of resolution, entertainment platforms and content producers will likely face continued scrutiny and potential bans when productions touch on these sensitive issues.

For Vietnam, maintaining vigilance over depictions of the nine-dash line appears to be a consistent policy priority that transcends other considerations, including access to popular entertainment content.

The question remains whether international studios and streaming services will develop better protocols for identifying and addressing potentially problematic content before it reaches platforms in sensitive markets, or whether these incidents will continue to arise periodically as new productions circulate globally.

What's certain is that the intersection of entertainment, technology platforms, and territorial disputes will continue generating friction points in an increasingly interconnected but politically fragmented world.