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Radio Free Asia has resumed broadcasting in Mandarin, Tibetan and Uyghur, restoring local-language services it says reach about 60 million weekly listeners inside China, including audiences in Xinjiang and Tibetan regions. RFA is a private, nonprofit corporation founded in 1996. It receives financial support from the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media, an independent federal agency that oversees U.S. civilian international broadcasters.
The broadcaster faced disruption after an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March last year aimed at reducing federal spending and reviewing government-supported media operations. The order also affected outlets under USAGM, including Voice of America, resulting in workforce reductions and scaled-back programming.
RFA President and CEO Bay Fang said the return of Mandarin, Tibetan and Uyghur programming follows the reinstatement of the organization’s Burmese and Korean services in December. “This is already making waves,” Fang said, referring to a recent Uyghur Service report alleging that children of detainees in Xinjiang are being forced into manual labor instead of attending school.
To our audiences around the world, it signals that the United States has not abandoned its commitment to independent journalism
Patsy Widakuswara, VOA journalist
On Feb. 3, President Trump signed into law a Fiscal Year 2026 spending package restoring financial support for U.S.-funded international broadcasters. Patsy Widakuswara, a VOA journalist and advocate for restoring affected USAGM broadcasts, welcomed the development. “To my colleagues and me, it sends a signal that our mission still has institutional backing. To our audiences around the world, it signals that the United States has not abandoned its commitment to independent journalism. We wish RFA luck in the hard work of resuming operations after going through the trauma,” Widakuswara said.
She said USAGM and its networks, including VOA and RFA, were created and funded by Congress and are governed by statutes requiring them to operate as independent, credible news organizations. “When Congress approves funding, it reaffirms that mandate. We look forward to the day when more languages are resumed, not just in RFA but also in VOA,” she said.
Fang said consistent financial support will be essential as RFA rebuilds operations in what she described as tightly controlled media environments. According to its mission statement, Radio Free Asia broadcasts exclusively in local languages and dialects, including Mandarin, Tibetan, Cantonese, Uyghur, Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer, Burmese and Korean.
Image in part by Freepik.
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