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Blackpink Vietnam concert organizer apologizes over S. China Sea map

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="(L-R) Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie, and Rose of BLACKPINK pose on the red carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, USA, 28 August 2022. EPA-EFE/JASON SZENES" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/entertainment/07/06/20230706-blackpink.jpg"/><figcaption>(L-R) Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie, and Rose of BLACKPINK pose on the red carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, USA, 28 August 2022. <em>EPA-EFE/JASON SZENES</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>HANOI - The organizer of a Blackpink concert in Hanoi has apologized after its website featured a map showing China&#x27;s territorial claims in the South China Sea, prompting a backlash on social media.</p><p>K-pop megastar girl group Blackpink is due to host two concerts in the Vietnamese capital in late July.</p><p>News of the performance has generated a huge amount of excitement in the city, which rarely hosts big-name international artists.</p><p>But early this week, reports surfaced on social media saying iME, an event and entertainment company headquartered in Beijing, used a map on the front page of its website featuring the &quot;nine-dash line&quot;.</p><p>China has long used the line to illustrate its expansive claims over most of the resource-rich South China Sea, often to the displeasure of Hanoi, which also claims parts of the waterway.</p><p>Some Facebook and TikTok users demanded a boycott of the concerts.</p><p>On the Blackpink Vietnam FC (fan club) Facebook page, one comment read: &quot;In support of Vietnam, we&#x27;d better... not attend entertainment shows organised by iME.&quot;</p><p>Another read: &quot;This concerns the territorial claim of a country. Although I like Blackpink, we should raise our voice.&quot;</p><p>On Thursday, a day before tickets were due to go on sale, Brian Chow, CEO of iME, said in a statement that the incident was an &quot;unfortunate misunderstanding&quot;.</p><p>&quot;The image of the map on the website does not represent the territory of any country and we are aware of respecting the sovereignty and culture of all the countries&quot; where iME has a presence.</p><p>&quot;IME quickly reviewed and committed to replace the images that are not suitable for Vietnamese,&quot; the statement added.</p><p>It also said it had sent a written explanation of the incident to the Hanoi department of culture and sports and other relevant authorities.</p><p>The apology came after Vietnam&#x27;s ministry of culture and information said Wednesday it was starting &quot;procedures to look into the incident&quot;.</p><p>During a regular press briefing on Thursday, ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Pham Thu Hang admitted Blackpink&#x27;s Vietnam show had become a &quot;hot-button issue&quot;.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/06/23/vietnam-looking-into-blackpink-concert-organizer-over-s-china-sea-map">Vietnam &#x27;looking into&#x27; Blackpink concert organizer over S. China Sea map</a></li></ul><p>Earlier this week, Vietnam authorities said they had banned the upcoming &quot;Barbie&quot; movie from cinemas over scenes showing the same map.</p><p>&quot;The promotion and usage of products or publications featuring the &#x27;nine-dash line&#x27; in Vietnam is a violation of Vietnam&#x27;s laws and is unacceptable,&quot; Hang said.</p><p>The South China Sea is home to valuable oil and gas deposits and shipping lanes, and several of China&#x27;s neighbors have voiced concern that Beijing is seeking to expand its reach.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HjOmeqAvzxM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

K-pop megastar girl group Blackpink is due to host two concerts in the Vietnamese capital in late July.