Vietnamese streaming site tests Chinese viewers’ loyalties over disputed islands

Fans of a Chinese period drama may need to rethink their geopolitics if they want to watch their favorite TV show. A Vietnamese website has forced users to answer questions about disputed islands in order to watch episodes.

‘The Story of Yanxi Palace’ has run for 62 episodes, attracting more than 11 billion cumulative views on the video streaming site iQiyi, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Fans flocked to the show after being won over by its depiction of a young concubine in the Qing Dynasty who negotiates her rise through the royal court.

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Now, the Vietnamese pirate website bomtan.org has found itself in possession of the last eight episodes, including the show’s yet-to-be-broadcast finale – and the site’s administrators are not letting the moment pass without forcing Chinese viewers to answer some uncomfortable questions.

“This service is for Vietnamese people only,” a message on the website reads. “Please answer the following questions: To which country do the Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands) belong? Vietnam, China, Philippines or Japan?”

Users were then only allowed access to the content by answering ‘Vietnam.’

According to reports in the SCMP, the quiz came to light when fans posted screenshots of the questions to China’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo. “[The Vietnamese website] pirated Chinese TV shows to begin with, then they raise this question that’s especially disputable to a Chinese audience. Please help spread the news so that more can know their ugliness,” one user wrote in a post.

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The Paracel Islands, known in Vietnamese as ‘Hoang Sa,’ are claimed by both China and Vietnam. The majority of the islands lie within 200 nautical miles of China and Vietnam. In February last year, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative reported that Chinese authorities carried out land reclamation projects, establishing 20 artificial outposts with facilities for military aircraft.

The dispute over the episodes appeared to have been resolved on Friday. According to Reuters, the streaming service iQiyi released a statement to its Weibo page on August 20 requesting that its rights to the material be respected. The copies of the episode were later removed from bomtan.

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