Voice of America (VOA) plans to end all radio and TV broadcasts in Mandarin and Cantonese starting in October amid a budget cut plan announced by US President Barack Obama, reports said yesterday.
The decision is highly controversial and has already engendered some strong reactions among China watchers.
“Shocking and idiotic,” said Arthur Waldron, professor of international relations at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on China.
“Information is our strong point. As true news about China comes out, it will be easier for us to deal with them. Radios are very effective indeed at shaping public opinion,” he said.
“I would think this was bad satire, but I fear it is true. It shows a complete lack of understanding of the world situation and correlation of forces,” Waldron said.
The decision is sure to have an impact on VOA facilities in Taiwan and the many Taiwanese journalists who work for the agency.
The US’ Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which is responsible for all US government or government-sponsored, non--military international broadcasting, made the announcement in Washington on Monday as it submitted its budget proposal for next year to US Congress. Insiders said that while there would almost certainly be objections from some members of Congress, there was also enormous pressure to cut spending.
VOA plans to lay off 45 Chinese-language broadcasters, including 38 employees of its Mandarin Service and all Cantonese broadcasters. At present there are 69 employees in the Mandarin Service.
The BBG plans to use its remaining resources to broadcast through the Internet and mobile devices.
VOA launched its broadcasting in China in 1942 and the Chinese service is the second-largest among its more-than-40 language services, broadcasting more than 90 hours of radio and TV programming in Chinese each week.
It has 12 radio and TV affiliates in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
More cuts can be expected in the coming years, with Obama, who unveiled his overall budget for next year on Monday, describing the move as a “downpayment” on future cuts.
The budget aims to cut US$1.1 trillion from the US deficit over a decade.
However, next year’s budget for the BBG actually contains an increase of 2.5 percent over this year.
“As we continue our strategic review of US international broadcasting, we will be seeking to introduce greater innovations and improvements,” BBG chairman Walter Isaacson said.
The formal budget document says that in an effort to “streamline” operations and improve efficiency, the BBG had decided to realign resources “to implement a cost-effective and market-specific strategy to effectively reach target audiences in China.”
It said 45 jobs would be cut at a saving of US$8 million.
According to the budget document, “Research indicates that China has the second-largest number of Internet users in the world — trailing only the US — and, despite blocking by the Chinese government, many survey respondents access BBG Web sites through proxy servers.”
“The agency will shift VOA Mandarin from traditional radio and television broadcasting to a Web-only platform utilizing new media technologies. This strategy recognizes the growing importance of new media in China, and targets niche audiences for VOA Mandarin content,” it said.
VOA would increase funding for content for mobile devices and technical support for censorship circumvention initiatives, it said.
“The BBG will strategically consolidate the network’s shortwave transmissions to ensure availability of peak listening hours for Radio Free Asia [RFA] Mandarin,” the document said.
“RFA will continue its radio broadcasting in Mandarin and exchange some of its off-peak hours for VOA’s preferred broadcast hours, while realizing a significant reduction in its overall transmission expenses. This will be accomplished by decreasing the number of frequencies utilized simultaneously and minimizing the power levels used for each transmission,” it said.
The BBG announcement came just as the BBC World Service confirmed in a press release late last month its own cutbacks. The cuts included five full-language service closures, the end of radio programs in seven languages and a phased reduction from most shortwave and medium-wave distribution of remaining radio services.
While the BBC World Service will cease all radio programming in Mandarin, its Cantonese radio programming would continue, the release said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS