Vietnam bans animated movie 'Abominable' over South China Sea map
CGTN
Poster of the U.S.-Chinese-made animated movie 'Abominable' in China. /VCG Photo

Poster of the U.S.-Chinese-made animated movie 'Abominable' in China. /VCG Photo

Vietnam has pulled "Abominable" from theaters because the U.S.-Chinese-made animated movie showed a map supporting Chinese claims to the South China Sea. 

"Abominable" is a joint production between the DreamWorks Animation and Shanghai-based Pearl Studio, which centers on the bond between Yi, a teenage girl grieving the loss of her father, and a Yeti. She and her friends embark on a 2,000-mile (3,219-kilometer) trek to bring their Yeti buddy, also known as Everest, back to the Himalayas. 

The movie was released on October 4 in Vietnam and was removed about one week later, the state-owned Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Monday. 

Trailers and other information associated with "Abominable" were removed from the Vietnamese distributors' website and social media channels. Trailer and posters were also removed from advertising screens in theaters. 

In Manila, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters the decision of continuing to show the movie in the Philippines was up to the government movie censorship board. 

It's not the first time that Chinese movies got blocked in Vietnam. The Chinese action film "Operation Red Sea," in 2018, was removed after being released for several days. 

(With input from AP)