Global News Blog: Radio Free Asia Breaking Boundaries in Asian Countries

Posted by Caralyn Shapiro

Freedom of speech is something that most Americans, inherently, take for granted.  As stated in the First Amendment, every American citizen can voice, be in contact with, and go against any opinion that is prominent or discussed.  It even seems odd to describe it, but our Constitution centers around the basic right to say what you want.  But it is not so in other foreign countries, more specifically communist countries who do not take so kindly to open and free media in their society.  This mentality is most notably obvious in China, where the Communist Party of China (CPC) works to ‘jam,’ as it is known as, the various channels of media that their citizens have access to.  The two primary censoring agencies in China are the General Administration in Press and Publication (GAPP) and the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) who are actual government bodies.  These groups judge what media is acceptable, license acceptable published material, but they also have the power to ban materials or outlets- one of their largest targets is Radio Free Asia.

Since 1996, the United States government sector of the Broadcasting Board of Governors has funded a private organization broadcasts radio to “Asian countries whose governments prohibit access to a free press,” as stated by Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) mission statement.  The US lead non-profit started as US radio station broadcasting propaganda in 1950.  But in 1971, the CIA stopped all involvement with RFA and handed off the operation to the Board of International Broadcasting.  We find it now today broadcasting through shortwave and the Internet in nine Asian languages.  I have always heard of these “rebel radio” companies that stream into another country or have some sort of “underground” operations, but I never knew that the American government ran one.

My response to this is go America! With such tight controls that are implemented in Chinese press, RFA is there to provide honest news to Chinese citizens.  But surely this did not go unnoticed within Chinese government as they have been trying to ‘jam’ RFA since it’s beginning in 1996; in one instance RFA reporters were simply denied access into China to cover President Clinton’s visit.  This totalitarian regulation activity that continues to go on in China seems almost alien compared to our society.  The media in China is filtered to shed a positive light on communism and the Party’s ways; they censor words like ‘democracy, freedom’ to ensure total control.  Could we live how we do with news that is edited? I think not.

My discovery of Radio Free Asia shows me that we, meaning America, have a firm values system which propels us to work to give those in other countries some sort of open media.  While it may be useful and a breath of fresh air for these countries’ citizens, is RFA going to far by going against the nation’s government?  It depends on your view of public diplomacy, should we be looking out for the countries’ people or the governments guidelines to society? It is a slippery slope, but I would tend to say that every human should have the privilege to free press.

Is Radio Free Asia heroically paving the way to a more open Chinese society or is America blatantly disrespecting the Chinese government and their media regulations?