The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence.
VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan, the Dalai Lama once said that “Tibetans call VOA broadcasts their medicine for depression and exhaustion.” Similarly, on the 15th Anniversary of RFA, the Dalai Lama emphasized the importance of its broadcasts and lauded their contribution in working to “educate people who have no freedom of information.”
China’s iron grip over the flow of information is stronger than ever, as are its relentless efforts in disseminating misinformation. The state-run China Global Television Network has more than 125 million followers on Facebook, while the VOA and RFA have just 15.5 million combined. Despite Facebook’s ban in China, that stark disparity speaks volumes about China’s efforts to silence the truth and promote its propaganda.
However, the VOA and RFA have done good work in countering China’s misinformation. The news platforms have been protecting the image of the US and courageously revealing the harsh realities of authoritarian regimes.
“The protection of fundamental human rights was a foundation stone in the establishment of the United States over 200 years ago,” the US Department of State’s Web site says. The department’s annual report on human rights underlines the pivotal roles of VOA and RFA in particular for unearthing human rights violations in China.
From 2000 to 2023, RFA reports on human rights violations in China have been cited 41 times. The reports indirectly give the US leverage in championing human rights in the world.
However, the risks and the sacrifices RFA journalists undergo are truly unacceptable. A reporter at RFA Dharamshala had to cut off communication with his family in Tibet. The families of people who work at RFA have faced constant harassment and threats.
Despite all the sacrifices and the truths told to the world, the Global Times — a mouthpiece of China — lauded the Trump administration’s decision to gut the news operations and denounced the VOA as “discarded by its own government like a dirty rag.”
The VOA and RFA became strong countermeasures to China’s lies — for which Chinese authorities have been trying to intimidate the families of reporters who expose the truth. American political scientist John Arquilla said that “in today’s global information age, victory may sometimes depend not on whose army wins, but on whose story wins.”
Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo captured this urgency in a 2011 address at VOA headquarters. “The world needs VOA’s clarion call for freedom, now more than ever. I hear it wherever I go,” he said.
Likewise, on RFA’s 25th anniversary, US senators Chris Coons and Rob Portman passed a bipartisan resolution recognizing its vital contributions. “For the past 25 years, Radio Free Asia has delivered balanced and objective reporting to countries where freedom of the press is only an idea,” Portman said.
In the battle of narratives, the VOA and RFA are the US’ frontline tools in countering China’s propaganda.
Yeshi Dawa is a former bureau chief at Radio Free Asia Dharamshala and a former academic administrator at the Institute of Leadership and Governance at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) sits down with US President Donald Trump in Beijing on Thursday next week, Xi is unlikely to demand a dramatic public betrayal of Taiwan. He does not need to. Beijing’s preferred victory is smaller, quieter and in some ways far more dangerous: a subtle shift in American wording that appears technical, but carries major strategic meaning. The ask is simple: replace the longstanding US formulation that Washington “does not support Taiwan independence” with a harder one — that Washington “opposes” Taiwan independence. One word changes; a deterrence structure built over decades begins to shift.
Recently, Taipei’s streets have been plagued by the bizarre sight of rats running rampant and the city government’s countermeasures have devolved into an anti-intellectual farce. The Taipei Parks and Street Lights Office has attempted to eradicate rats by filling their burrows with polyurethane foam, seeming to believe that rats could not simply dig another path out. Meanwhile, as the nation’s capital slowly deteriorates into a rat hive, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection has proudly pointed to the increase in the number of poisoned rats reported in February and March as a sign of success. When confronted with public concerns over young
Taipei is facing a severe rat infestation, and the city government is reportedly considering large-scale use of rodenticides as its primary control measure. However, this move could trigger an ecological disaster, including mass deaths of birds of prey. In the past, black kites, relatives of eagles, took more than three decades to return to the skies above the Taipei Basin. Taiwan’s black kite population was nearly wiped out by the combined effects of habitat destruction, pesticides and rodenticides. By 1992, fewer than 200 black kites remained on the island. Fortunately, thanks to more than 30 years of collective effort to preserve their remaining
After Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing, most headlines referred to her as the leader of the opposition in Taiwan. Is she really, though? Being the chairwoman of the KMT does not automatically translate into being the leader of the opposition in the sense that most foreign readers would understand it. “Leader of the opposition” is a very British term. It applies to the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, and to some extent, to other democracies. If you look at the UK right now, Conservative Party head Kemi Badenoch is
RSS