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
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS