History BannedInChina / China

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' received a ban after it was leaked that a villain's real name would be "Maruta Shinga". "Maruta" was the Japanese code name for human experimentation conducted by Unit 731 during World War II, so the name opened up some old wounds for the Chinese government. The author and publisher issued an apology and a promise to change the name, but the damage was already done.

Censorship of media is generally handled by the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), with a strict pass-fail rating system similar to that of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode: either the film is appropriate for all ages, or it's rejected, without any ratings in-between. As with most other countries, the censor board's failure to rate a film equals a ban. The criteria for passing are often arbitrary, vague, or otherwise secret, so it's not easy to determine in advance what will pass muster, and fosters an industry of self-censorship. Some individual theater managers will have unofficial ratings for films which otherwise pass, but these are relatively rare and separate from the government sanction. On the other hand, some media supposedly banned in China were not banned at all, often due to mistranslations thanks to lack of independent verification and the wide cultural and language barrier between China and the Western world.

* Until mid 2016, Music/LadyGaga was one of the best-received Western pop stars in China. That is, until she chose to meet with the Dalai Lama and post pictures of the meeting all over Instagram. Not only did that get her banned in China, but her Chinese fanbase was so disgusted that one went as far as to say, "the way the Chinese feel is just like you were shaking hands with bin Laden." Ouch.

** ''Film/{{Kundun}}'', another movie with the Dalai Lama, is also banned from China, as were director Creator/MartinScorsese and the late writer Melissa Mathison. On top of that, it was a BoxOfficeBomb and put Disney in hot water with China regarding ''Disney/{{Mulan}}''.

** ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' saw a limited release, in spite of predictions that it would be banned in retaliation for Disney financing ''Film/{{Kundun}}''. It even had Creator/JackieChan as the voice of Li Shang.

* The third entry of Creator/{{Koei}}'s ''P.T.O.'' wargame franchise was never officially released outside of Japan. An attempt at a Chinese translation was cancelled after Chinese localization staff quit in protest due to the game's ability to play as Japanese forces in the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar, a highly sensitive topic in China. As a result, the fourth entry of the franchise removed all battles set in China.

* Imports and livestreams of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'' was banned due to Hong Kong protesters using the game to spread their views.

* ''I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike'' has been banned for "defamation of a national character" -- in other words, for having an evil Chinese general as an OmnicidalManiac.

* China banned the strategy game ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron'' and its sequel for depicting China as a fragmented nation split into various warlord factions in the main campaign, which begins on New Year's Day 1936. Also, Tibet is depicted as an independent state. The Chinese censors did approve a GameMod which features a unified China.

* ''[[VideoGame/OperationFlashpointCodemasters Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising]]'' is a game placing the player in the role of a [[SemperFi United States Marine]] as part of an operation to liberate a Russian oil-rich island from Chinese invaders. There is no attempt to disguise the enemy; they are blatantly the PLA, with weapons and equipment modeled as accurately as possible based on whatever information the developers could find. This was apparently enough to get it ''not'' banned in China. If [[http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en=y&u=http%3A%2F%2Fgame.people.com.cn%2FGB%2F48601%2F48627%2F10162052.html&sl=auto&tl=en&history_state0= this]] Google-translated article is to be believed, the game is appreciated for its accurate modeling of PLA gear and the opportunity to "play as the enemy."

This system, by the way, does very little to stop domestic consumption of foreign works in China. Piracy is huge there, and it can't be prevented for the most part. China's media legislation is also well known for its quotas of foreign films allowed to be shown in the country per year as a means of protectionism. With China's massive population and growing economy, foreign media producers wanting a piece of the massive official market in China have become increasingly willing to censor or re-cut their own works to seek the approval of Chinese censors.

* While it was not banned, a Chinese poster for ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/TheForceAwakens'' [[http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-12-04/can-you-spot-the-reason-this-chinese-star-wars-poster-is-causing-outrage shrinks down John Boyega]].

** Interestingly averted with ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings 2'' and ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis 4'', where both games had Tibet as a playable faction, yet those games aren't banned in China (although it's very likely the Chinese versions may been censored where Tibet isn't a playable faction in the Chinese version).

** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'' has its campaign cutscenes abridged, though the in-game voices remains without subtitle. Although it is later revealed that only pirated version had this effect, so it is more of a copyright issue.

** In retaliation to the above, many on the web have teamed up in an attempt to ''[[InvokedTrope invoke]]'' this trope by painting the Chinese Videogame/{{Overwatch}} character Mei as a pro-Hong Kong symbol. So far this has not had much impact, as Overwatch contain numerous China based eSports teams.

* It's commonly believed that China bans [[http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/04/china_bans_time_travel_movies.html all movies concerning]] TimeTravel, as Chinese culture has so much respect for its ancestors that it will not allow a depiction of them that will necessarily be somewhat inaccurate. It turns out they don't ban it outright, but [[http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/making-tv-safer-chinese-censors-crack-down-on-time-travel/ they do have a guideline discouraging it]], which included a recommendation that filmmakers no longer adapt the Four Great Classical Novels either. There are a number of TimeTravel works that are banned in China anyway, including all adaptations of H.G. Wells' ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'' and the entire ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy .

* A Chinese poster for ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/TheForceAwakens'' [[http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-12-04/can-you-spot-the-reason-this-chinese-star-wars-poster-is-causing-outrage shrinks down John Boyega]].

* Co-writer C. Robert Cargill admitted this was the main reason behind the controversial decision to "[[RaceLift whitewash]]" The Ancient One in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016''. China has become such a huge market for Marvel films that the studio didn't want to risk pissing off the Chinese censors by casting an actor or actress from Tibet, so making the Ancient One white and British was seen as [[LesserOfTwoEvils the least offensive alternative]].

* In an interesting case, ''Film/BohemianRhapsody'' was not initially released in China but was in March 2019 after much wrangling over the content. Inevitably it was released with all the same sex relationship and drug elements edited out. A total of ten scenes were changed. So much was edited out that the general consensus of the people who saw it was that it was incomprehensible. [[https://www.apnews.com/06d1503ff9454014abaecae7743ebda8 This AP article]] talks to a man who’d seen the original cut while on a work trip to the UK and the edited version back home and was amazed at how different they were.
* Maverick's jacket from ''Film/TopGun'' was [[https://twitter.com/markmackinnon/status/1152241649893945346?s=19 altered]] for ''Film/TopGunMaverick'', removing the flags of Japan and the Republic of China[[note]]The government of Taiwan and rival of the People's Republic of China[[/note]]. This is likely due to Tencent Pictures, a Chinese company, being one of the film's financial backers.

* A rather amusing case is ''Film/ChristopherRobin'': as listed under Western Animation, president Xi Jinping [[BerserkButton does not take kindly to jokes]] comparing him to Literature/WinnieThePooh, so a movie based on that series was denied release.

The trope BannedInChina is named for the People's Republic of UsefulNotes/{{China}}, a country famous 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 very authoritarian and fairly 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 the history the current regime was around for), or even risk inciting a revolution that could depose the communist government in favor of democracy. Any works created by someone who supports independence for UsefulNotes/{{Tibet}}, UsefulNotes/HongKong, or UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}} might [[BerserkButton incur a ban also]]. ([[DeadpanSnarker Surprisingly,]] [[TheUnfavourite no one is talking about]] UsefulNotes/{{Macau}}, [[AllCrimesAreEqual even if the same rule still applies there]].)

Censorship of media is generally handled by the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), with a strict pass-fail rating system similar to that of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode: either the film is appropriate for all ages, or it's rejected, without any ratings in-between. As with most other countries, the censor board's failure to rate a film equals a ban. The criteria for passing are often arbitrary, vague, or otherwise secret, so it's not easy to determine in advance what will pass muster, and fosters an industry of self-censorship. Some individual theater managers will have unofficial ratings for films which otherwise pass, but these are relatively rare and separate from the government sanction.

This system, by the way, does very little to stop domestic consumption of foreign works in China. Piracy is huge there, and it can't be prevented for the most part. With China's massive population and growing economy, foreign media producers wanting a piece of the massive official market in China have become increasingly willing to censor or re-cut their own works to seek the approval of Chinese censors.

* In October 2019, Creator/BlizzardEntertainment provoked [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/10/09/activision-blizzard-hong-kong-china-boycott-blizzard-response boycott calls]], after it handed professional Hearthstone player Ng Wai Chung a 12-month suspension for "violating official competition rules", but was really for vocally supporting UsefulNotes/HongKong liberation. Though Blizzard likely didn't take direct orders from the Great Firewall, it's been widely seen as pandering to the lucrative mainland Chinese market.
* In retaliation to the above, many on the web have teamed up in an attempt to ''[[InvokedTrope invoke]]'' this trope by painting the Chinese Videogame/{{Overwatch}} character Mei as a pro-Hong Kong symbol. So far this has not had much impact, but time will tell.

* Online references to Franchise/WinnieThePooh are often blocked because of a running joke about how President Xi Jinping resembles Pooh.

* In the 1930s, pre-Communist China banned ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''. Percieved drug references? Nope, ''TalkingAnimals''. The censors felt that presenting animals as equal to humans was a bad message to give impressionable children.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' was previously banned due to the portrayal of TimeTravel; as stated above under Film, the Chinese government frowns upon positive portrayals of time travel or any "inaccurate" depictions of the past or the alternative explanation that the government would not like people getting the impression that an era before Communism is preferable, especially one with a monarchy. However, in 2017, BBC Worldwide signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese media company Shanghai Media Group Pictures making the revival series, ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' and ''Series/{{Class| 2016}}'' available on the mainland, with first refusal for four series after Series 11 in the event they were commissioned.

** Blocked sites of note include Website/{{Google}}'s Blogspot, [=Flickr=], Website/{{Twitter}}, Website/{{Facebook}}, and Website/{{Tumblr}}. Western news sites such as [[Creator/TheBBC BBC News]], Creator/{{CNN}}, and the New York Times are also banned. Most video sharing sites are also blocked, including Website/{{YouTube}}, although everything other than the video servers is unblocked on certain college campuses. Website/FourChan is ''not'' blocked; make of that what you will.

* Website/{{DeviantArt}} used to be banned in China until 2016. As of 2019, it's been re-banned.

* Until 2019 when a theatrical release of the series was made specifically for China, ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig'', of all shows, was banned in the country due to the show's association with subversive counter-cultural attitudes. [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/peppa-pig-ban-china-childrens-tv-cartoon-gangster-douyin-a8332846.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1525289539 Yes, really.]]

* Any form of discussion about the oppression of the Tibetans or the Tiananmen Square massacre (if it is in media or not) will get you arrested and scrutinized by the Chinese government. The [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory government-approved history textbooks]] will only give them cursory mention, if at all. Among films banned for addressing these topics: