BLACKPINK’s Vietnam concert organizer faces backlash for displaying controversial “nine-dash line” map on website

BLACKPINK’s concert in Vietnam is embroiled in a controversy related to the South China Sea dispute.

According to Reuters on July 7th, Vietnam’s state broadcaster VTV reported that BLACKPINK’s World tour organizer iME Entertainment announced that they would delete and replace the controversial image on its website.

Earlier, iME faced criticism when netizens pointed out that the map on its website contains the “nine-dash line”, which reflects China’s territorial claim in the South China Sea. 

Currently, there is a territorial dispute in this South China Sea area with various countries involved, including China, Vietnam, the Philippines, etc. China drew a nine-dash line in a U-shape and claims that about 90% of that area belongs to its territorial waters.

As the controversy intensified, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam announced on July 5th that they decided to open an investigation into iME website and related issues.

Regarding the controversy, iME CEO Brian Chow stated, “iME quickly reviewed and committed to replace the images that are not suitable for Vietnamese”, adding “iME respects the sovereignty and culture of all the countries”.

iME, headquartered in China, is considered the largest concert planning company in Asia. 

In fact, the Vietnamese government recently banned the screening of the Hollywood movie “Barbie” due to the appearance of the “nine-dash line”. 

A scene from “Barbie”, which was scheduled to premiere on July 21st, reportedly shows a map with the “nine-dash line”. After careful discussion, Vietnam decided to ban the movie.

Meanwhile, BLACKPINK will hold additional performances of their world tour “BORN PINK” at My Dinh National Stadium in Vietnam on July 29th and 30th.

Source: Wikitree