On the night of Friday, March 14, at the end of another week during which Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists provided rare reporting on the Myanmar civil war, North Korea’s alliance with Russia, political prisoners in Vietnam, and China’s persistent human right violations against Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, and Chinese dissidents, the White House signed an executive order dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The USAGM is the federal governing body that oversees RFA, Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and three other media organizations, all of which broadcast to authoritarian regimes where free media cannot fully operate.
The order, signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, called for USAGM to “be eliminated to the maximum extent” and “to reduce the performance to minimum presence and function.” The next morning, Kari Lake, a former news anchor and failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate whom Trump appointed as senior advisor to USAGM in February, sent a grant termination notice to RFA and its sister grantees, effectively cutting off their access to funding approved by Congress. All VOA employees were placed on administrative leave.
In a statement on the USAGM website, Lake said that USAGM and the outlets it oversees “will be reduced to their statutory functions, and associated personnel will be reduced to the minimum presence and function required by law.” She further justified the cuts by alleging that “waste, fraud, and abuse run rampant in this agency, and American taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund it.”
Trump may have acted on this following a post by Elon Musk, a senior advisor to the president and the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In a February post on X, Musk criticized VOA, calling it “radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money.”
The grant termination letter sent to the president of RFA, signed by Lake, states that the independent media outlet’s annual funding of $60.8 million has been revoked and that RFA must “promptly refund any unobligated funds.” Following the termination notice, 75 percent of its estimated 300 full-time U.S.-based staff were furloughed, while hundreds of freelance journalists had their contracts terminated.
RFA President Bay Fang said that the service’s termination was a “reward to dictators and despots… who would like nothing better than to have their influence go unchecked in the information space.”
While some political factions have celebrated this possible shutdown, none are celebrating it more than the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). An editorial released by the Global Times, a Chinese state-backed media outlet, stated that “the so-called beacon of freedom, VOA, has now been discarded by its own government like a dirty rag.”
The editorial continued, “Similar to Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, its primary function is to serve Washington’s need to attack other countries based on ideological demand.”
“Our sources inside Tibet have told us that all channels and Chinese-state-run media outlets in Tibet are covering and celebrating this news of the gutting of RFA and VOA, which have long countered Chinese propaganda and provided a window into a highly restricted region like Tibet,” said Tenzin Pema, director of RFA’s Tibetan service. “By shutting down operations like Radio Free Asia, you’re essentially rewarding the CCP.”
Following this, RFA announced on March 27 that it had filed a lawsuit against USAGM, on the grounds that its termination notice violated First Amendment rights and unlawfully usurped Congress’s control over federal funding. RFA is now awaiting a court decision, with the threat that it will be forced to shut down by the end of April if the ruling is not in its favor.
“We’re going to make sure the lights stay on for the time being,” said Rohit Mahajan, RFA’s chief communications officer. “Right now, we’re operating on reserves – we’re at the very end unless the situation somehow gets reversed.”
For Washington, this decision may be about saving a fraction of the federal budget, but for millions of people living under China’s oppressive rule – whether in Tibet, Xinjiang, or beyond – it means the loss of a rare and critical voice. For its 60 million weekly listeners, RFA is not just a media outlet; it is a lifeline. It is one of the few platforms that has fearlessly exposed China’s human rights abuses, serving as an unyielding counterforce against Beijing’s propaganda machine, the one outlet which refused to look away. Silencing RFA does not just cut off information, it steals the stories of the persecuted, leaving them voiceless, unseen, and forgotten.
RFA was established in March 1996 by Congress under the International Broadcasting Act, signed by then-President Bill Clinton. It launched with its first Mandarin-language service, followed by Tibetan later that same year, eventually expanding to include Burmese, Vietnamese, Korean, Cantonese, Lao, Khmer, and Uyghur. Operating in these nine languages, RFA’s mission, as stated on its website, is “to deliver uncensored, domestic news and information to China, Tibet, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Xinjiang, and Burma.”
“In regions where people often don’t know what’s happening even next door, RFA has bridged the information gap, delivering news where others cannot,” said an official from RFA who was granted anonymity due to fear of reprisal.
RFA has long reported from places with little to no press freedom, where state-controlled media spreads propaganda and indoctrination amongst its citizens. From uncovering the poor living conditions behind Pyongyang’s soaring 40-50 story buildings, which Kim Jong Un’s regime had boasted about, to its ongoing coverage of the military coup and civil war in Myanmar, RFA has been a rare and vital source of truth.
For decades, RFA has been one of the only outlets breaking through China’s iron grip on information, reporting on Tibet through a clandestine network of sources. In a country where the CCP’s censorship is absolute – where foreign journalists are barred, and independent reporting is nearly impossible –RFA did what no other publication could. Its reporters built sources over decades, some with more than 20 years of connections, risking their lives and the safety of their families, working under hidden identities. Now, all of that painstaking work is being erased with the stroke of a pen.
“You are not only closing the window into Tibet, but also to all these regions with authoritarian regimes like North Korea and Myanmar – doing so in a manner that undoes decades of effort to secure rare intelligence that serves America’s interests and furthers America’s global influence,” said Tenzin. “The trust audiences in these regions have in RFA, the sources and the delicate networks we’ve built in these regions have been done so over many decades – these don’t come back overnight. People share information with RFA at immense personal risk.”
RFA’s reporting has opened critical channels into Tibet and Xinjiang, prompting international organizations and U.S. policymakers such as the United Nations and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) to take action and hold China accountable. Their reporting has also served as a powerful voice for Tibetans, influencing activist organizations like Students for a Free Tibet and the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet.
While RFA’s focus is to disseminate news and information in these Asian countries, and while it may not be widely read in the U.S., many of its investigative stories have been cited in major U.S. media publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) have also cited RFA’s work in their reports. The CECC in particular includes dedicated sections on Tibet and Xinjiang in its issue page.
While RFA broadcasts in many countries, its closure will seemingly have the most significant impact on Tibet, which has been ranked as the world’s least free country by Freedom House for three consecutive years, and Xinjiang, where RFA is the only media that broadcasts in the Uyghur language, and the only avenue that serves the people in Xinjiang with uncensored news.
Tibet: Keeping the Stories Alive
RFA’s Tibetan service broadcasts in three dialects – Amdo, Kham, and Uke – and provides a crucial link to Tibetans inside Tibet who are otherwise cut off from independent news. Despite Beijing’s heavy censorship, Tibetans have relied on shortwave radio and digital circumvention tools to access RFA’s reports.
For decades, RFA has been an indispensable resource for Tibet advocacy organizations, environmental groups, and Tibet experts worldwide. With its shutdown, Tibet risks further marginalization in global conversations, and international attention on its plight is likely to fade.
In February 2024, a massive protest erupted in Dege County Town, located in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in southwestern Sichuan province, where over 300 demonstrators rallied against the 1,100-megawatt Gangtuo Dam on the Drichu River. The dam, just one of China’s extensive hydropower dam projects, would force the relocation of two villages and submerge six monasteries. The protest resulted in the arrest of more than 1,000 monks and residents, who were beaten up and detained.
RFA Tibetan service was the first to break the news of the crackdown. Leaked videos – obtained through RFA’s covert sources – showed elderly Tibetans kneeling and pleading with authorities not to remove them from their ancestral lands. Others were seen being beaten by Chinese officials. RFA’s reporting on this forced displacement prompted major international publications to investigate, drawing the attention of human rights groups and the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In September 2024, China launched the “Tibet International Communication Center” in Lhasa, presenting it as a platform to “tell a good Chinese story” and reshape global perceptions of China’s policies in Tibet. However, its true purpose is to whitewash China’s atrocities, human rights abuses, and efforts to forcibly assimilate minority ethnic groups while bullying people in their own land. While China invests billions in its propaganda campaign to alter public opinion, media outlets like RFA continue to challenge this narrative.
For nearly three decades, RFA reporters built trust with sources inside Tibet, allowing them to expose China’s heightened surveillance, restrictions, and assimilation policies. RFA not only held authoritarian governments like the Chinese Communist Party accountable but also connected Tibetans inside Tibet with the exile diaspora, delivering critical news about His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the Central Tibetan Administration, and international affairs in the Tibetan language.
“We go to great lengths to verify every piece of information we receive, despite the extreme surveillance and digital restrictions in Tibet,” said Tenzin, when asked about the credibility of their sources. “Sometimes, all we get is a single video – perhaps showing the ruins of a monastery that once stood – but with no immediate way to confirm its authenticity.” In such cases, the team uses multiple verification methods, including cross-checking with additional sources, collaborating with their reporters, and utilizing open-source intelligence and geospatial data. “We employ every tool at our disposal to ensure the information is credible, factual, and unbiased before it’s sent out,” she said.
The state-mandated colonial boarding schools in Tibet, which have garnered global attention in recent years, owe much of their visibility to the extensive and exclusive reporting by RFA. Through tips from sources, videos of children being abused, footage of monasteries being demolished, and stories of schools being shut down, RFA has been at the forefront of exposing the harsh reality of China’s policies. This reporting spurred activist organizations to demand accountability and prompted further investigations by journalists and media outlets. Ultimately, RFA’s work helped raise awareness, which led to pressure from the United Nations and governments worldwide. Without these critical reports, would these international bodies have even taken action or made their concerns known?
RFA has over the years kept tabs on the number of arbitrary detentions in Tibet and the state of political prisoners, reporting on the brutal crackdowns that have occurred for actions as simple as chanting the Dalai Lama’s name, reading his books, or singing traditional Tibetan songs. The Chinese government’s systematic suppression leaves no space for Tibetans to practice their cultural or religious beliefs. RFA has also consistently reported on the tragic deaths of prisoners who were beaten to death or subjected to torture while in detention by Chinese officials.
RFA played a pivotal role in covering the rise of self-immolations in Tibet starting in 2011, securing crucial tips and documenting these acts of protest, which brought global attention to the situation. Their reporting helped amplify the “Free Tibet” movement across the world.
Additionally, in March 2008, a series of protests joined by more than 3000 people erupted in the Tibet Autonomous Regions and China’s Sichuan, Gansu, and Qinghai’s provinces – arguably the largest and most intense anti-government demonstrations ever since the 1959 uprising. China Daily blamed RFA for inciting the unrest, accusing the outlet of calling on people to oppose the Beijing Olympics. These protests saw violent confrontations between Chinese security forces and protesters wielding iron bars, with Tibetan leaders claiming over 100 deaths at the hands of the police and more than 1,000 people detained. RFA Tibetan extensively covered the protests, reporting on arrests and mistreatment in prison and its reporting helped bring the events to the attention of Amnesty International that called for the release of the detainees.
Exposing the Xinjiang Internment Camps
In 2017, Chinese authorities secretly began arbitrarily detaining Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang. In January 2021, the first Trump administration labeled this campaign a “genocide.” Under the CCP’s Strike Hard Campaign, framed on paper as preventing separatism and as an anti-terrorism initiative, over 1.8 million Uyghurs were detained in over 1,000 such camps. Leaked footage obtained by RFA exposed the brutal reality of these camps, where detainees were subjected to intense surveillance, forced labor, and involuntary sterilizations.
RFA was one of the first media outlets to uncover this mass internment and to date has consistently reported on the issue. While China continues to deny its human rights violations in Xinjiang, RFA remains committed to exposing what the Chinese government seeks to conceal from the world.
“China did everything in its power to cover up these atrocities and prevent even its own officials and police from speaking to foreign media,” said Alim Seytoff, director of RFA’s Uyghur service. “But despite the challenges, we were still able to successfully uncover and confirm these abuses.”
This reporting also caught the attention of the U.S. Department of State, where Scott Busby, then deputy assistant secretary in the bureau of democracy, human rights, and labor, testified on the human rights violations in Xinjiang and helped allocate $10 million to support human rights initiatives in China.
“RFA has been a primary if not sole source of information on many of the human rights abuses occurring in Asia, especially in closed societies such as China, North Korea, and Vietnam,” said Busby, expressing concern over the current matter. “I hope the Trump administration sees fit to restore funding for it.”
Despite the CCP’s extensive surveillance state, RFA continues to report from Xinjiang, securing video footage and testimonies from inside the camps. Now, with RFA’s closure, these voices risk being silenced forever.
What’s Next for RFA Journalists?
In September 2024, RFA Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, who had been with RFA since 2015, was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of making propaganda against the state. Additionally, four other RFA Vietnamese journalists remain imprisoned in Vietnam, while two RFA Khmer contributors, Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin, are still under judicial supervision in Cambodia on espionage charges. In China, dozens of family members of RFA’s Uyghur staff remain incommunicado, detained, or imprisoned. RFA journalists, such as freelance contributor Su Yutong and Senior Tibetan Editor Tashi Wangchuk, have also been victims of transnational repression and constant harassment.
With the funding cut, it means that the family members of jailed journalists, whom RFA was supporting, will now have to fend for themselves.
An RFA Tibetan journalist, identity hidden and voice altered for safety reasons, shared on a video that he was labeled a separatist by the Chinese government, resulting in persecution of his family in Tibet. Authorities have forbidden his family from contacting him. For RFA Tibetan journalists who are U.S. citizens, the situation is equally dire: they have been denied visas to Tibet.
Many of RFA’s journalists hail from the very regions they cover and have firsthand experience with the brutality of the CCP. Thus, each reporter is not merely performing their duties; they are working from a deeply personal commitment.
With the termination of RFA’s operations, many journalists face a significant career shift. Many of them have covered a single beat for decades, making the transition to another form of work particularly challenging.
RFA journalist Kim Ji Eun, who escaped North Korea said, “As someone who left North Korea, I will continue to communicate with residents who are being oppressed by the regime, delivering news from the outside to them and receiving news from within.”
Having escaped oppressive regimes, they were able to challenge the government they left behind only because they were constitutionally protected in the U.S. Now, with RFA’s closure, some 30 foreign journalists are already under the threat of deportation to their home countries, where their work puts them at risk of persecution and imprisonment.
“Many of the family members and journalists cannot return to their respective countries simply because they work for Radio Free Asia,” said an RFA spokesperson, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “They’ve paid a huge price for press freedom yet instead of returning with appreciation the administration decided to gut the funding for them to carry on with their important work.”
A Blow to Press Freedom
RFA delivers news programs in various languages and dialects of the regions it serves, broadcasting via shortwave radio for six to twelve hours daily. Most of these transmissions rely on transmitters operated or leased by USAGM. However, since the grant termination notice, the U.S. administration has scaled back shortwave radio transmissions, and many frequencies that once carried RFA’s programming have gone silent in recent days.
Despite being censored in countries like China and North Korea, RFA continues to provide critical information, though the government authorities in these countries have made multiple attempts to jam the signals. People who listen to RFA take significant risks, as the content is often viewed as subversive or illegal by these regimes. A recent random intercept survey suggests that 13.5 percent of respondents in China still manage to access its content weekly, RFA told Foreign Policy.
In North Korea, the risk is particularly high. One fisherman was reportedly executed for listening to RFA, and 100 of his peers were forced to watch the execution as a deterrent, to prevent others from doing the same.
In a letter signed by the Committee to Protect Journalists and 27 other organizations, the groups expressed their support for a free press and urged the government to safeguard the reporters and media workers employed by USAGM. The decision has also been criticized by many international scholars and human rights advocates.
In a post on X, Maya Wang, the associate China director at Human Rights Watch, described the Trump administration’s decision as “awful.”
“In places like Tibet and Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has watertight control, RFA has been one of the few which can get info out. Its demise would mean that these places will become info black holes, just as the CCP wants them.”
The termination of RFA is not just a bureaucratic decision. It is an abandonment of those who rely on it as their only source of uncensored news. It is a victory for the CCP’s propaganda machine. And it is a loss for the millions who have spent decades fighting – against all odds – to have their stories heard.
