I guess I don't know how else to explain it. It isn't just these countries, but countries around the world that hold a tight grip on what people are allowed to see in media and entertainment because ultimately the populace will eventually affect the bureaucracies that you describe. Any nation needs it's populace to at least notionally back an idea that something is not just property of another country by simple claim. Much of the relentless infatuation with capitalism in the west is a result of a constant flow of curated information and culture. It is why it is so hard to combat capitalism because leftists are essentially shunned, debilitated, and attacked because the prevailing propaganda depicts them as a threat to norms. Westerners that live in "free press" countries live in a highly censored environment whether they realize it or not, and the purpose it serves is so either the people continue to support the norms, or are at least are pacified from overthrowing them. What you are seeing in this incident is the Vietnamese version of this. The Philippines even went at length to review the film first before deciding they would allow it.
There is a reason media is tightly regulated. If you allow your population to be convinced that the South China Sea does in fact belong to China as sovereign territory, will they be as supportive in contesting that narrative? There isn't any overhead governing body between these nations that says who owns what. It's literally just one nation's word vs another's. Many of these nations are not exactly good friends. This scenario is sort of like your house being backed up to a pond and one of your neighbors claiming they own the pond so you can't use it. The difference is here there is no one to enforce any claim on your behalf.
Vietnam is not going to accept the idea, or reward this international "normalcy" regardless of how jokingly or stupidly it is depicted because at the end of the day, the line is implying territory that belongs to what is clearly going to be China in that blob of a drawing. Saying "it just says Asia" is not going to fool them. Where you are seeing a silly line, they are seeing a reinforcement of an idea on an international scale.
For the record, you are correct that the whole situation is silly. But understanding why there is enough tension that this situation happened is important.
My thinking is that China will get the territory because they're bigger, they're richer, they have a seat on the UN security council, and no one who theoretically could intervene for Vietnam here like America or Russia actually cares
the barbie movie compared to all that is completely irrelevant
I guess I don't know how else to explain it. It isn't just these countries, but countries around the world that hold a tight grip on what people are allowed to see in media and entertainment because ultimately the populace will eventually affect the bureaucracies that you describe. Any nation needs it's populace to at least notionally back an idea that something is not just property of another country by simple claim. Much of the relentless infatuation with capitalism in the west is a result of a constant flow of curated information and culture. It is why it is so hard to combat capitalism because leftists are essentially shunned, debilitated, and attacked because the prevailing propaganda depicts them as a threat to norms. Westerners that live in "free press" countries live in a highly censored environment whether they realize it or not, and the purpose it serves is so either the people continue to support the norms, or are at least are pacified from overthrowing them. What you are seeing in this incident is the Vietnamese version of this. The Philippines even went at length to review the film first before deciding they would allow it.
There is a reason media is tightly regulated. If you allow your population to be convinced that the South China Sea does in fact belong to China as sovereign territory, will they be as supportive in contesting that narrative? There isn't any overhead governing body between these nations that says who owns what. It's literally just one nation's word vs another's. Many of these nations are not exactly good friends. This scenario is sort of like your house being backed up to a pond and one of your neighbors claiming they own the pond so you can't use it. The difference is here there is no one to enforce any claim on your behalf.
Vietnam is not going to accept the idea, or reward this international "normalcy" regardless of how jokingly or stupidly it is depicted because at the end of the day, the line is implying territory that belongs to what is clearly going to be China in that blob of a drawing. Saying "it just says Asia" is not going to fool them. Where you are seeing a silly line, they are seeing a reinforcement of an idea on an international scale.
For the record, you are correct that the whole situation is silly. But understanding why there is enough tension that this situation happened is important.
My thinking is that China will get the territory because they're bigger, they're richer, they have a seat on the UN security council, and no one who theoretically could intervene for Vietnam here like America or Russia actually cares
the barbie movie compared to all that is completely irrelevant