VOA Publishes Articles Opposing Official Chinese Stance
Reportedly Discarded Like a Dirty Rag
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the downsizing of a government agency overseeing broadcasts such as Voice of America (VOA), which has critically reported on authoritarian countries including North Korea and China. In response, Chinese state media reported that the "lie factory" is disappearing.
The Global Times, an English-language media outlet affiliated with the People's Daily, stated in a commentary on the 17th that "VOA is known as a place that incites conflict and social division and even participates in attempts to change regimes," adding that "it has gained notoriety on the world stage as a propaganda tool carefully crafted by the U.S. for peaceful evolution, a strategy to induce regime change in socialist countries."
It continued, "The so-called beacon of freedom, VOA, has now been discarded like a dirty rag by its own government."
The reason Chinese state media is making such direct criticism is because VOA has produced reports opposing the official stance of Chinese authorities on issues ranging from human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, aggressive actions in the South China Sea, threats to Taiwan, suppression of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, to recent topics such as the origin of COVID-19 and overproduction in Chinese manufacturing.
The Global Times listed these issues one by one and said that nearly all malicious lies about China bear VOA’s fingerprints. It also referred to VOA as a "lie factory" and "propaganda poison."
It then relayed remarks from Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and a close associate of President Trump who has recently led the downsizing of various U.S. government agencies, saying about VOA, "No one listens to them anymore." It added, "Perhaps the U.S. government has realized that continuing to waste massive national funds on such outdated and inefficient agencies is not in the best national interest."
The Global Times stated, "Institutions like VOA, a 'cognitive warfare' tool that gained strength during the Cold War, have no place in today’s multipolar world," adding, "Whether it is VOA or anti-China think tanks, budget cuts, layoffs, and even complete shutdowns are inevitable outcomes, and as a result, they will ultimately be swept into the dustbin of history."
Meanwhile, on the 14th (local time), President Trump issued an executive order to minimize the functions and personnel of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an independent U.S. government agency that operates VOA and Radio Free Asia (RFA), among others.
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