Hanoi, Vietnam - The highly anticipated Barbie movie will not be released in cinemas in Vietnam – and the reason is geopolitics.

A scene in the film shows a map with the so-called "nine dash line," representing China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, known in Vietnam as the East Sea.

That's a big no-no for the communist state, which alongside the Philippines and Malaysia also claims parts of that territory.

The ban was decided by the National Film Evaluation Council, VNExpress reported on Monday.

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Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was actually scheduled to open in theaters in the Southeast Asian country on July 21.

Barbie tells the story of dolls Barbie and Ken, who are happy in the seemingly perfect Barbieland before they are transported to the human world.

Vietnam has already banned films several times in the past because the "nine-dash line" appeared in them. Last year, the action-adventure blockbuster Uncharted with Tom Holland was prohibited in cinemas.

In 2021, eight episodes of the Australian Netflix series Pine Gap were also banned from screens.