Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT

My life as an indoorsy nerdy girl couldn't be any worse these days, because four of the best American shows I love, including The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, NCIS and The Practice, have been removed by authorities from Chinese websites.

As one of the angry fans, I am very upset that there's been no clear explanation in the month since they have been removed.

Amidst our bewilderment and confusion, fans finally had some sort of progress when the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said on May 19 that some of the shows violated copyrights, or violated the 16th clause of the regulations about online broadcasting. 

The host websites argued that the shows were all purchased legally.

The 16th clause states that shows should not "damage the nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity," "induce juveniles into committing crimes," or "provoke cults and superstitious beliefs."

The websites and fans require a less ambiguous explanation about exactly which specific part of the Big Bang Theory, a comedy centered on four dorky scientists, violated the rules.

Over the years, Chinese fans have dealt with rounds of crackdowns on television shows or movies from overseas.

Countless times have I woken up in the morning and visited websites to see if there are new episodes of my favorite shows, only to find out that the websites are "closed" or "videos cannot be opened because of policies and other reasons."

I admit some of these messages might have been justified, in order to protect copyrights and prevent piracy. But now, the authorities have banned the official, paid versions of the shows that respected the copyrights. Viewers feel helpless when something like this happens. The fans can do nothing, except complain and mock the authorities.

Ironic introductions which make the banned shows seem "legit" and "positive" have been composed to plead for the right to broadcast them.

One of them reads: "The Big Bang Theory tells the story about four young scientists who have made a false choice of dedicating their work to capitalistic scientific research. It leads them to being unable to get married or purchase a house, having to quarter in a small apartment and live on junk food. The show reveals the decaying Western society, and serves as a warning for our young generation who blindly seek immigration there."

The show's executive producer Chuck Lorre fired back quickly after the show was pulled offline. "The government of China has decided that The Big Bang Theory is not appropriate for viewing …… The overlords of 1.3 billion people are afraid of our sitcom. Exactly what we were going for!" he said.

I understand that efforts should be made to protect the domestic TV industry from the overwhelming, more popular TV dramas from overseas. But what we should do is build a good environment for healthy competition, encourage innovation and empower more creative talented people.

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.