Netflix pulls episodes in Philippines after complaint about China map

Netflix has pulled episodes of “Pine Gap” down from its service in the Philippines due to complaints from the government there about a map that was displayed on the show. 

The spy drama includes two episodes that showed a map that indicates China has control of most of the South China Sea, a territorial claim rejected by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, Reuters reported.

Netflix said on Monday two episodes of the series were “removed by government demand,” but did not explain why.

Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said an investigation by its movie classification board found the episodes were “unfit for public exhibition.”

The movie board said the map was “no accident as it was consciously designed and calculated to specifically convey a message that China’s nine-dash line legitimately exists,” according to Reuters.

The map is a violation of Philippine sovereignty, according to the DFA, which said “such portrayal is a crafty attempt to perpetuate and memorialize in the consciousness of the present generation of viewers and the generations to come the illegal nine-dash line.”

The film board decided on Sept. 28 that the episodes should be removed, and it is unclear why the decision wasn’t announced until this month, Reuters noted. 

The Hill has reached out to Netflix for comment.