The Chinese government’s State Administration of Radio Film and Television has issued a new protocol that essentially bans fantasy based plots; more specifically time travel; in their media. Their explanation for the decision according to The New York Times is said to be that time travel stories can "casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation."
There is speculation across the internet and other outlets that suggest the real reason behind the new guidelines is to stop a misrepresentation of historical figures and events in a way that the Chinese authorities disapprove of. Whilst not being quite as provocative as the censorship of the internet by the Chinese government in 1996; this decision has to be a blow to the SyFy channel’s hopes of reaching a wider audience as well as HBO in the event that they had intended to market their new outing Game of Thrones on a wider international scale.
While it is a shame that this particular brand of entertainment will never reach the native Chinese, they will likely be rewarded with more factual accounts of history on the entirely non-propaganda filled airwaves, detailing China’s world domination and that time they won the Super Bowl.