MANILA, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc has removed two episodes of spy drama "Pine Gap" from its streaming service in the Philippines after the Southeast Asian country rejected scenes involving a map used by China to assert its claims to the South China Sea.

The Philippines on Monday asked Netflix to remove certain episodes of the six-part Australian series, saying the map depicted on the show was a violation of its sovereignty.

The second and third episodes of the show were no longer available in the Philippines by late Monday, with Netflix announcing on its platform that those episodes had been "removed by government demand". It did not elaborate.

Netflix did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

After a thorough review, the Philippines' movie classification board has ruled that certain episodes of Pine Gap were "unfit for public exhibition", the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.

The Philippine films board, acting on the DFA's complaint, handed down its ruling on Sept. 28. It was not clear why the decision was only made public now.

The board believes that "such portrayal is a crafty attempt to perpetuate and memorialize in the consciousness of the present generation of viewers and the generations to come to the illegal nine-dash line", the DFA said.