A screenshot of the Abominable trailer showing a scene where the nine-dash line is featured on a map

A representative of the municipal Department of Tourism on October 14 confirmed the incident, adding that the department had reported it to the city’s government, reported Thanh Nien newspaper.

During the three-day expo, the organizing committee found that Shanghai-based tour operator Hola China had displayed its brochures to promote tours to China’s Shanghai.

Before the firm’s staff could distribute the brochures to visitors, local police and inspectors of the municipal tourism department confiscated the brochures, a source told Thanh Nien.

ITE HCMC 2019 kicked off on September 5 at the Saigon Exhibition Convention Center in District 7. It is an annual travel event for the local tourism industry.

In related news, CGV Vietnam, a multiplex cinema chain under the South Korean CJ Group, on October 14 issued an official apology to Vietnamese movie audiences for having screened a movie featuring the nine-dash line which Vietnam does not recognize.

Besides this, CGV pulled DreamWorks’ animated film “Abominable,” which was marketed in Vietnam as “Everest – The Little Yeti,” from cinemas nationwide on October 13 due to a scene featuring a map displaying the nine-dash line in the East Sea. All advertisements, posters and the trailer of the film were taken down as well.

As a movie publisher and distributor, CGV admitted the error during the film’s release. On learning of the seriousness of the issue, CGV apologized to Vietnamese audiences and pledged to follow the directions of State management agencies, the CGV leader said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has asked Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong to direct the Cinema Department to address the improper actions by individuals and groups involved in appraising and approving the movie’s release, according to Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The cinema department must seek ways to perfect the Central Council’s process of appraising and classifying movies and establish a team that will assist the council in operating efficiently. The department must complete these tasks before October 17.

“Abominable,” which was released in local cinemas on October 4, is a joint product of DreamWorks Animation and Shanghai-based Pearl Studio. In the movie, a Chinese girl named Yi and her friends meet a yeti. They then help the creature reunite with its family on Mount Everest.

Ten days after the release, audiences noticed the map featuring the nine-dash line.

Earlier, a similar incident occurred when a Chinese movie, titled “Operation Red Sea,” was withdrawn from local cinemas last year. SGT
 

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