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.
Weeks into the craze, nobody quite knows what to make of the OpenClaw mania sweeping China, marked by viral photos of retirees lining up for installation events and users gathering in red claw hats. The queues and cosplay inspired by the “raising a lobster” trend make for irresistible China clickbait. However, the West is fixating on the least important part of the story. As a consumer craze, OpenClaw — the AI agent designed to do tasks on a user’s behalf — would likely burn out. Without some developer background, it is too glitchy and technically awkward for true mainstream adoption,
On Monday, a group of bipartisan US senators arrived in Taiwan to support the nation’s special defense bill to counter Chinese threats. At the same time, Beijing announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had invited Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to visit China, a move to make the KMT a pawn in its proxy warfare against Taiwan and the US. Since her inauguration as KMT chair last year, Cheng, widely seen as a pro-China figure, has made no secret of her desire to interact with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and meet with Xi, naming it a
A delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is to travel to China tomorrow for a six-day visit to Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, which might end with a meeting between Cheng and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip was announced by Xinhua news agency on Monday last week, which cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) as saying that Cheng has repeatedly expressed willingness to visit China, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Xi have extended an invitation. Although some people have been speculating about a potential Xi-Cheng
No state has ever formally recognized the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) as a legal entity. The reason is not a lack of legitimacy — the CTA is a functioning exile government with democratic elections and institutions — but the iron grip of realpolitik. To recognize the CTA would be to challenge the People’s Republic of China’s territorial claims, a step no government has been willing to take given Beijing’s economic leverage and geopolitical weight. Under international law, recognition of governments-in-exile has precedent — from the Polish government during World War II to Kuwait’s exile government in 1990 — but such recognition
RSS