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Radio Silence in China: VOA Abandons the Airwaves Huchen Zhang, Dan Dickey, and David S

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Radio Silence in China: VOA Abandons the Airwaves Huchen Zhang, Dan Dickey, and David S No. 1195 Delivered May 25, 2011 September 8, 2011 Radio Silence in China: VOA Abandons the Airwaves Huchen Zhang, Dan Dickey, and David S. Jackson Abstract: On October 1, 2011, Voice of America’s (VOA) Chinese radio service will go silent, as U.S. international broadcasting abandons the airwaves and moves to the Talking Points Internet. In the burgeoning age of new media, many, • On October 1, 2011, Voice of America’s (VOA) including the management at Voice of America, seem to Chinese radio service will go silent, as the be questioning the continued relevance of shortwave radio. U.S. abandons shortwave broadcasting in Yet, while the Internet offers great potential, U.S. public favor of the Internet. diplomacy cannot rest exclusively on the use of a single • While China’s online industry is expanding, platform. This is particularly true where the prevalence the government’s Internet control is becom- of Internet censorship is high. Just this past May, China ing more and more sophisticated: Only Web announced the creation of its State Internet Information sites with pre-approved domain names are Office, intended to expand and enhance China’s informa- allowed to connect to the physical network; Internet users are required to prove their iden- tion dissemination policy, and leading many to question tity before registering any online account; whether abandoning the airwaves is truly the best way and the Chinese government employs the to reach America’s audiences throughout the world. On largest Internet police force in the world. May 25, 2011, three expert panelists—the senior editor • Limiting VOA’s China outreach to the Web at VOA’s China branch, the CEO of Continental Electron- makes VOA vulnerable to censorship and ics Corporation, and VOA’s former director—discussed the blocking. Unlike surfing the Internet, listen- current U.S. strategy for its international broadcasting. ing to shortwave radio broadcasting cannot be detected, and it requires no special infra- structure or skills. HUCHEN ZHANG, Senior Editor, Voice of • Ending shortwave transmissions to China America China Branch: My name is Huchen Zhang; would be the biggest blunder yet in the his- I’ve been working at Voice of America’s (VOA) China tory of U.S. international broadcasting and branch for 20 years. I’m speaking to you today as a public diplomacy. professional journalist and private citizen. What I’m This paper, in its entirety, can be found at: going to say are my personal observations and opin- http://report.heritage.org/hl1195 ions. They do not represent the official policy of the Produced by the Douglas and Sarah Allison Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the Interna- Center for Foreign Policy Studies of the tional Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), or VOA. Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies On Valentine’s Day, the BBG announced to all the Published by The Heritage Foundation employees of the VOA’s China branch its proposal to 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002–4999 (202) 546-4400 • heritage.org Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress. No. 1195 Delivered May 25, 2011 eliminate VOA shortwave radio and TV broadcasts In addition, China is the largest holder of U.S. pub- to China on October 1. By switching to Web-only lic debt. The United States pays China $73 million operations, the BBG told us, $8 million would be a day in debt interest. saved. Forty-five journalists (38 Mandarin and China’s military might is growing as its economy seven Cantonese, 59 percent of the branch’s full- expands. It has test-piloted its first stealth fighter jet. time employees) would lose their jobs. In keeping Its first aircraft carrier will soon be commissioned. It with the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we were told that has demonstrated the ability to destroy a satellite in the decision had nothing to do with the perfor- space. Its defense budget this year is 12.7 percent mance of the China branch. In fact, we were told bigger than last year’s. More important, the military that we had been doing an excellent job. The deci- hardliners are having a greater say in the country’s sion was based, the BBG said, on the increase of the decision making. number of Internet users and decline in shortwave Emboldened by its economic and military power, listenership in China. China is vying with the United States for dominance in international affairs. Results of various latest pub- Beijing’s crackdown on political dissent has lic opinion polls show that over half of the Ameri- been ruthless. In recent months, hundreds of can people surveyed believe China is America’s No. activist lawyers, bloggers, artists, and clergy 1 potential adversary. have been questioned, detained, confined to In the past two years, China has spent $7 bil- their homes, or have simply disappeared. lion to expand its overseas propaganda operations through its state media outlets: the Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television (CCTV), the Peo- More than three months have passed, but I’m ple’s Daily, and China Radio International, not even still shocked and bewildered by the BBG’s decision. including the pseudo-official Phoenix TV. Being a reasonable man, I’ve been looking at the issue from different angles. I have even tried to put Domestically, Beijing’s crackdown on political myself in the BBG’s shoes. But no matter how I look dissent has been ruthless. In recent months, hun- at it, I always come to the conclusion that the BBG’s dreds of activist lawyers, bloggers, artists, clergy, decision is based on faulty information and wrong and members of independent religious groups have judgment. It comes after the BBG has already abol- been questioned, detained, confined to their homes, ished VOA radio and TV programming in Arabic or have simply disappeared, apparently to prevent and Russian, two vital strategic United Nations lan- the seeds of the Arab Spring from reaching China. guages. If approved by Congress, ending shortwave “The human rights situation in China has gone from transmissions to China would be the biggest blun- abysmally bad to worse,” remarked Congressman der yet in the history of U.S. international broad- Chris Smith at a House hearing on May 13. “In casting and public diplomacy. fact, we’ve not seen this level of blatant violations of human rights since the crackdown on Tiananmen In the next few minutes, I will try to put the Square protestors in June 1989,” he said. BBG’s budget proposal into perspective and show At the same time, the Chinese government has you how I have come to this conclusion. Let’s first further tightened its grip on the press. This includes look at the bigger picture of China’s rise and U.S.– traditional media and new media. The Internet and China relations. other high-tech communications in China are so In the past 20 years, the Chinese economy has rigidly controlled that the Communist regime can, been developing at a breathtaking pace, thanks in theory and in reality, track the movement of any largely to the high efficiency of one-party totalitar- individuals it wants to monitor. The Chinese gov- ian rule. Now China is the world’s second-largest ernment recently announced that it will use cell economy. Many experts predict that the size of the phone GPS technology for “crowd management,” as Chinese economy will surpass that of the United all cell phone users in China are already required by States in real terms in 2020; some say even sooner. page 2 No. 1195 Delivered May 25, 2011 law to provide their identity before signing up for China’s Wuhan University. After the incident, his mobile phone services. name and the word “shoe” became “sensitive” While China’s Internet industry is expanding, words, and couldn’t be searched on the Web. the government’s Internet control is also becoming It is against this backdrop that the BBG announced more and more sophisticated. China is adopting a its plan to end VOA’s shortwave radio and satellite “white list” system to manage the Web. Only Web TV broadcasts to China, citing the following reasons, sites with pre-approved domain names are allowed as The Washington Times reported on April 11: “The to be connected into the physical network. Internet Chinese government has jammed shortwave radio users in China are required to prove their identity broadcasts for many years, and shortwave listening before registering any Internet account, and the is in dramatic decline while TV, Internet and mobile Chinese government employs the largest Internet use are all increasing. Meanwhile, the Internet is police force in the world. Routers to the networks censored but not completely blocked.” in the outside world are tightly controlled and It is a fact that Beijing has jammed Western monitored. Some call Internet in China the “Great shortwave broadcasts for many years. The People’s Chinese Intranet.” A Chinese dissident in Shan- Republic of China has spent millions of dollars to do dong province told VOA that Chinese government so. Why give the Chinese government a gift of this security authorities would call him seconds after he magnitude by unilaterally abdicating the airwaves? made any tweets and would even read out the exact Both Britain’s BBC and Germany’s Deutsche Welle words to him. are doing just that in 2011. Can we in good con- Furthermore, any Internet company, including science allow the West to lose its most significant Internet giants Yahoo and Google, are forced to radio and TV voices to the world’s most populous “cooperate” with the Chinese government.
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