Trump Shut Down Major U.S. Tool to Fight Chinese and Authoritarian Asian Propaganda

Trump furloughed nearly the entire staff of Radio Free Asia, one of the few ways the U.S. directly counters authoritarian propaganda in Asia.

Our Analysis

Radio Free Asia (RFA), with an estimated 50+ million listeners in Asia, is one of the only ways the U.S. government can communicate with people living in authoritarian regimes.

People in Asia even risk their lives to listen to RFA, including a North Korean fishing boat captain who was reportedly executed in front of 100 colleagues for listening to FRA.

Trump furloughed virtually their entire staff of 300.

Without Radio Free Asia, Chinese and other authoritarian propaganda may go unchallenged in many parts of the world, increasing worldwide threats to freedom.

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Both sides aren't the same:

What the "other side" did

It was in fact Joe Biden, along with Jesse Helms, who created Radio Free Asia as a U.S. Senator in 1994 in response to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

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