US President Donald Trump’s move to close the agency that oversees Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia has drawn praise in China and Cambodia that have long been critical of US media outlets.
Former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen praised Trump for combating fake news by shutting down the US Agency for Global Media.
China’s state-run Global Times used an editorial to celebrate the closing of VOA, which it called a “lie factory” for “stirring up conflicts, inciting social divisions, and even participating in regime change efforts.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We should highly appreciate President Donald Trump for his courage to lead the world in combating fake news, starting with news outlets funded by the US government,” Hun Sen, who was prime minister for almost four decades until he was succeeded by his son in 2023, wrote in a Facebook post late on Monday. “This is a big contribution to eliminating fake news.”
Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at reducing the scope of eight federal agencies, including the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other news organizations.
The move is the latest from the administration that is working with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to carry out mass firings of federal workers and the wholesale elimination of agencies such as the US Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
VOA director Michael Abramowitz announced over the weekend that virtually the entire staff of more than 1,300 journalists, producers and their colleagues were place on administrative leave. The broadcaster, which started out in 1942 and operates in nearly 50 languages, has been regarded as “propaganda poison” by Chinese state news media for reporting ranging from forced labor in Xinjiang to the 2019 Hong Kong protests.
“Clearly, VOA has never been a ‘fair and impartial’ media outlet,” Global Times wrote on Monday. “The continued existence of these institutions only brings more chaos and creates more trouble for the world.”
Russia’s reaction to the closures was more muted. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the US media outlets “can hardly be classified as popular and in demand in the Russian Federation, so it doesn’t really concern us,” according to Reuters.
However, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavsky said the work of the Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is crucial and pledged to discuss with EU foreign ministers how to keep it at least partially operational.
RFE/RL CEO Stephen Capus warned that canceling grants for the broadcasters would be a “massive gift to America’s enemies,” in reference to the leaders of China, Russia and Iran. “Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker.”
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