Cut out Abominable movie's 'offending' Chinese map scene —Locsin

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday said the scene in the animated film " Abominable" which featured China's nine-dash line map in the South China Sea should be removed instead of banning the movie in local theaters.

"Of course they should cut out the offending scene which will show our displeasure better than if we unconstitutionally ban it as some suggest," the Foreign Affairs chief said on Twitter.

OF COURSE THEY SHOULD CUT OUT THE OFFENDING SCENE WHICH WILL SHOW OUR DISPLEASURE BETTER THAN IF WE UNCONSTITUTIONALLY BAN IT AS SOME SUGGEST. DO CUT OUT CRUDELY. MAYBE INTERJECT MTRCB HEAD IN CUT OUT SCENE WITH A HECTORING LECTURE. THEN CARTOON GOES ON. https://t.co/NWoEydnqJJ

— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) October 16, 2019

Locsin made the remarks after Vietnam prohibited the film from being shown as it acknowledged China's map indicating it owns nearly the entire resource-rich waters where it has claims, along with the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

"Do cut out crudely," Locsin said as he suggested to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board "to cut out the scene with a hectoring lecture."

After doing so, "cartoon goes on," he said.

Prior to his tweet on Wednesday, Locsin said there is no ground to ban the film in the Philippines, but noted a "universal boycott" of DreamWorks may be called instead.

China's sprawling claim was denigrated by an international tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands in 2016 in response to a case filed by the Philippines.

China refused to honor the ruling, maintaining its claims in the South China Sea are indisputable and based on history.

A joint production between DreamWorks and China's Pearl Studio, Abominable tells the story of a Chinese teenager helping a yeti return to his home on Mount Everest.

The South China Sea — a cluster of islands, reef, shoals and coral outcrops — are believed to be sitting atop rich oil and mineral reserves and straddles one of the world’s vital sealanes.

Competing claims to the waters and its resources have long been feared as Asia’s next potential flashpoint for a major armed conflict. —KG, GMA News