Overseas Chinese communities criticize Trump for cutting Voice of America and Radio Free Asia

Toronto Big Face: Recently, with the cutbacks from USAID, many projects have been halted. Of course, the most noticeable to everyone might be Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, as these are what people interact with more.

Do Voice of America and Radio Free Asia have problems? Yes, they certainly do. In the current internet era, they have become somewhat disconnected, and their marketing is also very poor. For example, under Radio Free Asia, there's a youth-oriented program called "Wai Nao." The content and website are actually quite good, but there's basically zero marketing. As a result, not many people know about it.

Regarding USAID's issues, I have also deeply felt its problems. For instance, its extreme inefficiency. When I was interviewed by Wang Zhian about the LI coin, I mentioned that some people might spend ten thousand on airfare to get eight thousand in funding. And then, it takes a year for the ten thousand to arrive, and so on. Besides this, there are also a large number of meaningless projects (at least in my opinion). Some projects that people have never even heard of receive millions of dollars in funding annually.

This is precisely why I initially wanted to start an MCN with Teacher Li and Xu Mouren, and later why I supported Teacher Li in launching the LI coin. The goal was to solve the problems of slow aid and disconnection from reality associated with government assistance like USAID.

Take our "Ni Ma" project, Project 611. With the boost of the LI coin, we could just go ahead and do it. But without it, if we needed to apply for funding from USAID, for someone to have the money to do it, first, given the different model compared to traditional projects, it's uncertain whether we could even apply successfully. Even if we did get approved, it would probably take so long that the opportunity would be long gone.

Of course, returning to Trump's actions. Although I have always criticized USAID's efficiency, does Trump's action deserve approval? Certainly not. Projects like Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and other projects, might need optimization, but not a complete shutdown. However, Trump clearly has no intention of optimizing; the so-called USAID reform is actually a blunt cut. Not optimizing is lazy governance, and a blunt cut is also lazy governance.

In this situation of Trump's blunt cut, The current reality is that where funding usage might have just been inefficient before, now there's simply no funding. This is worse than before.

People have always had a sense of shame about money. But in reality, whether it's pursuing press freedom, freedom of speech, or democracy in China, it all requires money. This money doesn't need to make everyone rich, but we can't do these things relying on air. Trump's blunt cut will undoubtedly make future endeavors much more difficult.

Of course, in the end, I am quite fortunate to have launched the LI coin and started the MCN project early on. This has allowed us to be largely unaffected, becoming one of the few groups completely untouched. https://x.com/torontobigface/status/1901207262795870596

Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher: While in Taiwan, I had the fortune to meet with seniors from the RFA Taiwan branch. They are a group of experienced veteran journalists who have been focused on reporting on China long before the rise of the internet. Their professionalism and dedication left a deep impression on me. They also shared some of their experiences on how they conducted fact-checking with local Chinese governments back in the day. In the internet age, many people believe that independent media has surpassed news organizations, only in terms of information acquisition speed. But in my view, it's just that their operational models are different, and independent media can never completely replace news organizations. In fact, Radio Free Asia has been actively changing recently, whether it's in information transmission speed, update frequency, content quality, or the establishment of a dedicated fact-checking channel, etc. I am actually looking forward to the results of how a news organization transforms in this era of independent media. Unfortunately, seeing them suffer such undeserved misfortune today is truly regrettable. Many friends might feel it doesn't matter, but I want to remind everyone that China Digital Times has not been updated for a month. First China Digital Times and Yi Yan Net, then Radio Free Asia and Voice of America. Every voice that is lost is a loss. The public might not fully perceive it, but the changes in the public discourse have quietly begun. On one side, a massive number of mouthpieces are being deployed to tell China's story well, while on the other side, an arm is being cut off, compressing the volume. This is clearly not something to be applauded. But the future is here, and there's no use dwelling on the past. On one hand, I hope for the early resumption of work by VOA and RFA, and on the other hand, we can only prepare ourselves for a more difficult situation. Ignatius Lee: Our situation will become more difficult. China is restricting Western media from reporting on China, and the US is cutting off multiple media outlets and online platforms that focus most on China from overseas. It will be harder to obtain information about China in the future, and it will be harder to form public opinion overseas. However, this also presents new opportunities for independent media. Influential independent media will use their influence more flexibly to fill the void left by traditional media. But independent media still needs to strengthen its journalistic literacy and professionalism. However, the lack of economic support will also make it difficult for independent media to survive and will create opportunities for some content producers to be opportunistic, as pleasing the masses, inciting public sentiment, and using hate speech to create influence are the easiest paths. In the future, independent media creators need to consciously form alliances to jointly cope with the absence of traditional independent media roles and fill the gaps left by international media like VOA Chinese and RFA Chinese. After forming alliances, independent media creators need to mutually strengthen their professional literacy, improve the quality of their content output, form a united front against propaganda, and even mutually strengthen economic cooperation and mutual assistance. This cooperation can be similar to the nature of a trade union. Du Wen: The Trump administration has cut funding for US government-funded media organizations such as Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), reducing their functions to the legal minimum requirements. VOA's 1,300 employees have been placed on paid administrative leave, and the organization has fallen silent. Critics argue that this move weakens America's information dissemination capabilities globally and affects the promotion of freedom and democratic values. VOA leadership stated that this is the first time in its 83-year history that the agency has been forced into silence. The government claims the move is for resource optimization, but in the context of escalating information warfare, this decision has sparked widespread controversy. For a long time, media organizations like Voice of America have disseminated free, democratic, and objective news globally, providing an important source of information for local populations, especially in regions with restricted information. President Trump's decision may weaken America's global information dissemination capabilities, and cutting the operations of these agencies could be seen as undermining US efforts to promote freedom and democratic values worldwide. However, the government also has a responsibility to ensure the effective use of public funds and avoid resource waste. Therefore, the key lies in finding a balance that upholds the independence and functions of these media while ensuring their operational efficiency and effectiveness. It should be pointed out that in the context of escalating global information warfare and ideological competition, maintaining the operations of these organizations is crucial for preserving America's soft power and global influence. It is hoped that in the future, while ensuring the effective use of public funds, the independence and functions of these media can be maintained. In the context of increasingly fierce global information warfare, the US weakening the operations of organizations like VOA and RFA is undoubtedly weakening its own international influence and giving autocratic regimes like the CCP and Russia a greater advantage in the propaganda war. In the future, the US should maintain the independence and functions of these media while ensuring the effective use of public funds, ensuring they continue to spread the values of freedom and democracy globally. The most crucial point is: the US must be vigilant that these highly influential media platforms must never fall into the hands of the CCP or other hostile forces, otherwise, it will not only be a loss for the US but also a major setback for the global camp of freedom and democracy.