Toy trouble: Vietnam pulls dolls over South China Sea map

Vietnam has withdrawn a highly sought-after Chinese toy doll from sale, amid speculation that the drawings on the “innocent” doll may reference controversial Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Toy trouble: Vietnam pulls Baby Three dolls over South China Sea map

This photo taken on March 18, 2025 shows a Baby Three doll, with a marking on its cheek that has been claimed to resemble China’s so-called nine-dash line in the disputed South China Sea, in Hanoi. Agence France-Presse HANOI — Seething international tensions over the South China Sea have struck an unlikely victim in Vietnam: popular children’s dolls pulled from shops over a facial mark supposedly resembling Beijing’s claims in the flashpoint wat…

When geopolitics invites themselves into the children's rooms: dolls appreciated by young Vietnamese are removed in recent days from the shops, the fault to a brand with a face supposedly recalling the claims of Beijing in the South China Sea.

Toy trouble: Vietnam pulls dolls over disputed South China Sea map

Tensions over the South China Sea have struck an unlikely victim in Vietnam: dolls pulled from shops over a facial mark said to resemble Beijing's "nine-dash line."

Vietnam pulls dolls over South China Sea map

HANOI - Seething international tensions over the South China Sea have struck an unlikely victim in Vietnam: popular children’s dolls pulled from shops over a facial mark supposedly resembling Beijing’s claims in the flashpoint waterway.

Toy trouble: Vietnam pulls dolls over South China Sea map

A marking on the doll's cheek was said to resemble China’s so-called “nine-dash line”.