History BannedInChina / China

* 15 episodes of ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' were [[MissingEpisode skipped]] when the anime first aired in Hong Kong due to their unacceptable contents. Those episodes would aired there almost three decades later, but only in the late night time slot, and with a [[TheOtherDarrin different dubbing cast.]]

The trope BannedInChina [[TropeNamer is named for]] the People's Republic of UsefulNotes/{{China}}, a country infamous for banning works seemingly arbitrarily. It might not be the most prolific, but it's certainly one of the most visible, because (a) China is a big country and a big export market, so producers want their works to make it there however they can and (b) China is also totalitarian and paternalistic, so the government has a lot of power and inclination to ban anything it feels has a bad influence on the people. This, of course, would include works which criticize or undermine the government, make fun of China or the Chinese as a whole, reference the more unpleasant events in China's history (particularly ones involving the Communist Party of China, as well as the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar, which remain a sore point between China and Japan), or even risk inciting a revolution that could depose the totalitarian government in favor of democracy. LGBT content puts the work at risk of being banned, for fear it could change people's sexual orientation, though Danmei and Baihe (Chinese version of the [[YaoiGenre Yaoi]] and [[YuriGenre Yuri]] genres) are highly popular in the country, with multiple adaptations in Manhua, Donghua, and Live-Action even being produced from novels.[[note]]That is until the Chinese Government intervened in the rising popularity of Danmei and created tighter regulations regarding the portrayal of men in media. This resulted in nearly all Danmei novels being locked on online platforms and having many Danmei/Dangai adaptations either quietly removed or in DevelopmentHell. Baihe, on the other hand, is left untouched.[[/note]] Any works created by someone who supports independence for UsefulNotes/{{Tibet}}, UsefulNotes/HongKong, UsefulNotes/{{Xinjiang}}, or UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}} might [[BerserkButton incur a ban also]]. ([[DeadpanSnarker Surprisingly,]] [[TheUnfavourite no one is talking about]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Mongolia}} Inner Mongolia]] or UsefulNotes/{{Macau}}, [[AllCrimesAreEqual even if the same rule still applies there]].) Sometimes, the ''mere mention'' of any of these territories, even in a non-provocative context, is enough to cause the CCP to at least threaten to stop doing business with the offending third party.

The trope BannedInChina [[TropeNamer is named for]] the People's Republic of UsefulNotes/{{China}}, a country infamous for banning works seemingly arbitrarily. It might not be the most prolific, but it's certainly one of the most visible, because (a) China is a big country and a big export market, so producers want their works to make it there however they can and (b) China is also totalitarian and paternalistic, so the government has a lot of power and inclination to ban anything it feels has a bad influence on the people. This, of course, would include works which criticize or undermine the government, make fun of China or the Chinese as a whole, reference the more unpleasant events in China's history (particularly ones involving the Communist Party of China, as well as the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar, which remain a sore point between China and Japan), or even risk inciting a revolution that could depose the totalitarian government in favor of democracy. LGBT content puts the work at risk of being banned, for fear it could change people's sexual orientation, though Danmei and Baihe (Chinese version of the BoysLove and GirlsLove genre) are highly popular in the country, with multiple adaptations in Manhua, Donghua, and Live-Action even being produced from novels.[[note]]That is until the Chinese Government intervened in the rising popularity of Danmei and created tighter regulations regarding the portrayal of men in media. This resulted in nearly all Danmei novels being locked on online platforms and having many Danmei/Dangai adaptations either quietly removed or in DevelopmentHell. Baihe, on the other hand, is left untouched.[[/note]] Any works created by someone who supports independence for UsefulNotes/{{Tibet}}, UsefulNotes/HongKong, UsefulNotes/{{Xinjiang}}, or UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}} might [[BerserkButton incur a ban also]]. ([[DeadpanSnarker Surprisingly,]] [[TheUnfavourite no one is talking about]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Mongolia}} Inner Mongolia]] or UsefulNotes/{{Macau}}, [[AllCrimesAreEqual even if the same rule still applies there]].) Sometimes, the ''mere mention'' of any of these territories, even in a non-provocative context, is enough to cause the CCP to at least threaten to stop doing business with the offending third party.

* Chinese Internet censorship is famous for its "Great Firewall", which filters all traffic through the country and blocks "subversive" or "objectionable" sites. Of course, the Chinese tend to know workarounds for this.

* As of September 2018, Platform/{{Twitch}} is blocked in China.

* As of September 2018, Website/{{Twitch}} is blocked in China.

* As of February 2020, the fanfiction site Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn has apparently been banned in China. On the 29th of February, Archive staff responded to reports that the site was inaccessible that the matter had been investigated and the problem was not on their end. There have been some rumors that this was due to complaints by one of the actors in the Chinese drama, Series/TheUntamed, over the portrayals of his character in fandom, especially ones involving queer content. This makes the situation quite ironic if the rumors are true. The Untamed is adapted from a popular Boys Love web novel, ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi''.

* ''Anime/AmaimWarriorAtTheBorderline'' has been yanked off of Chinese streaming site Bilibili, due to the Asian Free Trade Entente being shown in a bad light like engaging in police brutality, random executions, and human trafficking. As the aformentioned faction is said to be dominated by China and most of the characters shown have Chinese names, it was probably viewed that it was a jab against the current Chinese government.

* ''Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx'' and ''Manga/SlowStart'' were pulled from Chinese streaming service iQiyi after being reported to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. A heated FlameWar between fans of ''DARLING'' and ''Literature/VioletEvergarden'' led to the former being reported for immorality, with ''Slow Start'' being pulled as collateral simply for sharing a producer with ''DARLING'', Creator/A1Pictures.

* 2011 Chinese Flash animation ''Rabbit Kuang Kuang'' ('''Chinese:''' 小兔子哐哐 ''Xiǎo tùzǐ kuāng kuāng),'' was currently banned on Chinese video websites due to it referencing a few other forbidden topics of China, including the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, [[note]]The milk tigers used to posion the bunnies is "Three-Tigers Milk Powder" ('''Chinese:''' 三虎牌奶粉 ''Sān hǔ pái nǎifěn),'' which is a parody of the infamous Sanlu Group, which responsible for the scandal in the real life[[/note]] and the New Campus of Hebei University "10·16" Traffic Accident Escape Case (and its (in)famous catchphrase delivered by the perpetrator, "My dad is Li Gang" ('''Chinese:''' 我爸是李剛 ''Wǒ bà shì lǐgāng),'' which parodied as "My dad is Tiger Gang" ('''Chinese:''' 我爸是虎刚 ''Wǒ bà shì hǔ gāng).''

* ''Film/MenInBlack3'' had the FriendlyLocalChinatown shootout scene with J [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory-wiping Chinese bystanders]] removed. No official reason was given but it's been speculated by Chinese journalists that it was done [[BigBrotherIsWatching to avoid any comments about parallels to their society.]]

* David Wingrove's ''Literature/ChungKuo'' series is banned in China for portraying a bleak Chinese future where society has degenerated to what is essentially the Warlords era; this includes methods that are downright dehumanizing, the only people left are Causcasians and Chinese (the Latinos and Indigenous Natives are exterminated to the last man, and the blacks are now on a decline), etc.

* Until mid-2016, Music/LadyGaga was one of the best-received Western pop stars in China. Her music was then banned after she posted pictures of her meeting the Dalai Lama on Instagram, and even both having an interview. Not just that, but [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6750911/Chinese-TV-station-cuts-appearances-Lady-Gaga-Oscars-ceremony.html the 2019 Oscars Awards were censored in China by having her face blurred!]]

* Music/{{Zedd}} was banned in China after liking a ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' tweet mocking China for banning the show. He even admitted this in [[https://mobile.twitter.com/Zedd/status/1182376966495838208 his own tweet]]. (See the Western Animation folder for the tweet in question.)
* The infamous Malaysian Chinese singer, Namewee, was banned in China after the song "Fragile", which lampoons the country and its population, was released. A few years later, Namewee made an Chinese New Year song named "People of the Dragon", which is another jab at China, and Chinese internet users were [[https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/02/16/users-catch-lifetime-bans-over-namewee-tune permanently banned]] on Douyin, China’s equivalent of Platform/{{TikTok}}, for sharing the song without realizing what the song is actually about.

* ''[[Franchise/WinnieThePooh Winnie the Pooh's]]'' Chinese name "小熊维尼" were [[https://boundingintocomics.com/2019/03/20/report-winnie-the-pooh-censored-in-world-of-warcraft-pubg-and-arena-of-valor-in-china/ banned]] in video games such of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds'', ''VideoGame/ArenaOfValor'' and ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' (see "Western Animation" below for other details), and can result in instaban if typed on chat. However, as a side effect of this, some players using this advantage to troll peoples by forcing them to type the Pooh Bear word just for fun and troll purpose only, without knowing that the autoban was enforced by "law". [[labelnote:For example]]When someone else in chat on Overwatch asks you an question, "Who's Tigger's best friend?" and you then replied, "Winnie-the-Pooh?" and then you're instabanned.[[/labelnote]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Devotion}}'' by Red Candle Games was banned because of a placeholder image found in the game that referenced Chinese president Xi Jinping, comparing him to Winnie the Pooh. The game was released on Steam in February 2019, and when nationalistic Chinese netizens found out about the placeholder art they began review-bombing ''Devotion'', and later on made claims that other references found in the game -as well as the whole plot- were actually expressions of anti-mainland China sentiment by the game's Taiwanese developers and that they were mocking that same Chinese audience that liked their previous title ''VideoGame/{{Detention}}''. The situation snowballed to the point that Red Candle were forced to remove the game from Steam, remove almost any mentions of it from their official site, and the game's Chinese publisher had its license revoked. In July 2019 Red Candle posted on their social media an official apology which said that ''Devotion'' wouldn't be re-released on Steam "in the near future", implying that the game is now dead and buried. On March 15th, 2021, they finally cut out the middle man and [[https://twitter.com/redcandlegames/status/1371335941542060032 launched their own storefront]] to sell the game on, but the game's re-release from Red Candle Games's own storefront is completely region-locked from China. And if a Chinese user tries to play the game, it will only prompt a [[https://i.imgur.com/V1YvFes.png Chinese warning message]] that the game is prohibited by law.

* Many historical based strategy games such as ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'', ''VideoGame/TotalWar'', and ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' will often avoid having civilizations such as the Tibetans or the Uighurs as playable factions mainly to avoid this trope. In particular, both the developers of ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' (Ensemble Studios) and the revival expansion ''The Forgotten'' (Forgotten Empires) have stated that they considered the Tibetans as a faction in the past, but have not given an official explanation to why they were never included. Skybox Labs, which helped develope the SpinOff ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' did say that they would not include Tibetans for fear of losing the Chinese market, where the franchise [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff is relatively popular]]. The fact that dead soldiers no longer decay into skeletons in the ''Definitive Edition'' remakes of both ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' and ''II'' doesn't have an official explanation either, but many fans are certain that it is due to concerns about breaking Chinese cultural taboos against the depiction of human bones.

* In August of 2022, a Chinese woman was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW1OPsG3rEA detained in Suzhou]] for wearing a kimono in public (she was cosplaying ''Manga/SummerTimeRendering''[='=]s female lead Ushio), with the local police even accusing her of being a RaceTraitor for wearing a tradional garb worn by one of their sworn enemies.

** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0Mh-8kmXQ LIBERTY PRIME LIBERATES HONG KONG]]", a video made by [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqhnHz3PDXPT6vAHVuAY7dg The Mechanical Shark Channel]] that A. supports the Hong kong protests and B. features the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' character Liberty Prime who is known for spouting out loads and loads of insults against Chinese communists in the name of American democracy, uses this copypasta as a fake disclaimer at the very beginning of the video.

** Chinese comedian Li Haoshi is [[https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/china-issues-2m-fine-over-comedian-li-haoshis-army-joke/ arrested]] and issued a fine of $2 million in China for comparing the People's Liberation Army as "stray dogs chasing a squirrel" and quoting "fine style of work, capable of winning battles". The Beijing Regulators view this joke as an embarassing insult, as it implies that the PLA are {{Paper Tiger}}s only capable of bullying their smaller neighbors, and will lose to any nation capable of fighting back.

* The infamous Malaysian Chinese singer, Namewee, was banned in China after the song "Fragile", which lampoons the country and its population, was released.

** The [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/1989-tiananmen-square-protests#tiananmen-square-copypasta "Tianamen Square Copypasta"]] was supposedly made by the South Korean equivalent of [=4chan=] to be used against Chinese online gamers that are often seen cheating. In theory, throwing TheLongList of CCP-banned keywords at Chinese players gets their internet service cut off by the Great Firewall of China, or at the very least makes them voluntarily sign off immediately in fear of either this or being falsely accused of dissenting against the CCP. Apparently, it worked well enough that the Japanese Twitter-sphere started using it, as well as Western gamers on [=MMOs=] that have (or had) a large enough presence of Chinese players (e.g. ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'').

* In September 2021m ''Series/UltramanTiga'' along with a bunch of anime were taken down from all video platforms without explanation. No one knows why they did this, especially since the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' has more violent and darker shows than ''Tiga'' that are still up. However, ''Tiga'' is the most popular ''Ultra'' show in China with the younger generation, Some have [[MakeAnExampleOfThem theorized it may have been done to send a message that the CCP could ban anything if it wanted too.]] If that is the case, it backfired because the backlash was immense, and ''Tiga'' was shortly put back up although missing some episodes.

* ''Literature/ChinaTidalWave'' is banned in China as the Tiananmen Square Massacre is mentioned repeatedly, and as well as a (realistic) portrayal of what would happen if China (with billions of people and a ton of nukes) became a failed state. It also depicts the fall of the CCP which they view as a huge insult.

* An aversion: contrary to what you might expect, ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' is readily available. [[note]] This should come as no surprise to people who've really read the novel; despite its theme of rebellion and seeking freedom from oppression, {{Big Brother|IsWatching}} ends up winning in the end after [[ColdBloodedTorture convincing]] the protagonist to sell his beliefs out and to stop searching for the real truth. [[/note]]

* Any travel-book that is primarily centered around Taiwan or Tibet are banned in the country, especially if it lists either country as being a separate country to China on the map, or if it mentions the Dalai Lama at all. This even extends onto books that are focused on China, but do list either country as being separate.

* You are not allowed to mention the novel ''Long Live The Emperor'' because, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N80zgzxUIE&list=PLBuns9Evn1w-5rkmBNwtfL58cx6D9irhc according to one defector]] "long live" is considered to mean "forever." And, while the current President Xi Jinping is president forever due to his removing of China's term limits on the President, nobody is allowed to talk about that fact.

* Being that Maoist China was staunchly atheist, Literature/TheBible was banned and all foreign religion outlawed during his reign. Although the Chinese Communist Party still has an antipathy towards organised religion (except for Taoism), since the '90s they have at least become somewhat tolerant of Christianity and Judaism being practiced.

Due to the large amount of video game piracy in China, many video games are never officially released or localized in China, and translations of such games often fall to the hands of fan translation groups. With the rise of online digital distribution platforms such as Platform/{{Steam}} however, many of the supposedly banned video games can be bought in China. In 2021, Creator/{{Valve|Corporation}} launched the unique Steam China service to comply with Chinese video gaming legislation, at the expense of only featuring a small pool of curated games. There were originally no plans to block the global version of Steam from being accessed in China, apart from the community section being banned by the Chinese government, but then the global Steam website became blacklisted in the country later that year. The global Steam client can still be accessed, though external tools are required for it to work efficiently.

* In 2018, the community section of Steam (including reviews, discussions, and Workshop) was banned in China, though a lot of users had managed to work around it. In 2020, a specially curated version of Steam launched in China under the server and local publisher Perfect World Entertainment, and in Christmas 2021, the international version of Steam as a whole is banned in China for a short time before reverting to the rule of banning the community section only, while leaving the store and the game accessible. The Chinese can still access the banned parts via a VPN though.

Due to the large amount of video game piracy in China, many video games are never officially released or localized in China, and translations of such games often fall to the hands of fan translation groups. With the rise of online digital distribution platforms such as UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} however, many of the supposedly banned video games can be bought in China. In 2019, Creator/{{Valve|Corporation}} is in talks of launching a Chinese version of UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} to comply with Chinese video gaming legislation, featuring curated games only, but has no plans to block the global version of Steam from being accessed in China, apart from the community section being banned by the Chinese government.
* Between 2000 and 2013, China banned ''all'' video game consoles, largely because the government had very little control over what was released on them. Then Creator/{{Nintendo}} made the iQue Player (a plug-and-play variant of the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64) specifically for the Chinese market, and that allowed China to ease into allowing importation of video games and consoles again, just with strict regulation of the type of game that can be imported.

* Invoked with ''Meijyou'' (AKA Miqing), which is is a {{Hentai}} ''[[Main/ChineseAnimation donghua]]'' that was made only to defy, challenge and attack [[BannedInChina China's censorship laws]], although the H-scenes themselves were animated in Japan. If you thought ''Animation/CupidsChocolates'' was donghua's raunchiest title, you're mistaken.

[[/folder]]

* {{Hentai}} (and basically anything else pornographic) is banned in China too, obviously. This hasn't stopped some fans there from importing hentai anime and manga into the country thru black market or access it via VPN though.

* The ''Shen Yun Performing Arts'' is banned in China, as they compose of Falun Gong members. And it's not just banned there, the Chinese government even attempted to enforce their bans outside of China by pressuring other countries, such as Ecuador, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, and (starting in October 2023) Korea into banning Shen Yun entry into theaters.

* ''Film/FromBeijingWithLove'' is banned in China for referencing the Tiananmen Square Massacre. During the ending, Ling Ling-Chat's blade (a weapon portrayed in the film for slaughtering pigs) is emblazoned with the calligraphy of Deng Xiaoping "Hero of the Nation", a title given to the squad that participated in said massacre.