If the American government reduces or even leads Voice of America (VOA), the authoritarian regime of China will be the largest winner. This is not just a budgetary problem; This is a major decision concerning the freedom of the global press and the fundamental values of American democracy.
As a person who grew up in China under the propaganda of the Communist Party and later became a defender of human rights and labor rights in New York, I understand how the Chinese Chorere. In a country where the news is entirely controlled by the government, VOA is not only a media – it is the front line in the fight against authoritarianism and a lighthouse of American democratic values.
I heard Voice of America for the first time in 1981, when I was nine years old. China had just left the cultural revolution and the government put the former leaders in judgment. I remember my older brother very well, and my uncles and neighbors, secretly huddled together to listen to the radio broadcasts with short waves VOA, wishing to obtain more precise information on the unrest in their own country.
Later, I understood that VOA was considered an “enemy station” by the Chinese government, and listening to its programs could even lead to imprisonment.
Growing child in China, my education was saturated with political slogans and propaganda. At the age of four, the first sentence I learned was “the president of Long Live Mao life”. In kindergarten, we were taught to criticize Confucianism, to oppose the bourgeoisie and to recite the Maoist ideology as preparation to become “successors of communism”, despite not knowing exactly what it meant.
Then VOA has changed everything.
In 1986, a student movement broke out in China. The government described it as “provoked by liberal intellectuals”, but VOA reported that students demanded democracy, freedom and equality. Although I did not fully understand these concepts, it was then that I started to question the government’s story.
In 1989, the Chinese government called on the army to remove student demonstrations. The media of the Communist Party called him “repress a riot”, but Voa’s relationships revealed a completely different reality. In my quest for truth, VOA has become one of my most reliable sources, helping me to understand the true sense of freedom, democracy and human rights.
In the 1990s, China launched large -scale public enterprise reforms, leading to mass layoffs. Tens of millions of workers have lost their jobs, including my family and my friends. In 1997, I began to help workers defend their legal rights, provide legal consultations and fight for social justice.
During this period, VOA was not only my source of news – it has become the only platform for me to express concerns for the outside world. I participated in VOA’s political programs via Collect Calling, expressing my opinions. My colleagues also provided VOA journalists with investigation tracks to ensure that the international community was informed of the difficulties of Chinese workers. VOA journalists have relayed this information to human rights organizations, working groups and foreign journalists in China, increasing international pressure and leading to certain improvements in working conditions.
Although he has not received an official university education in China, if someone asks me where I acquired my most precious knowledge, my answer is: Voice of America.
In 2000, I came to the United States and founded China Labor Watch, devoting myself to the promotion of labor and transparency of the business supply chain in China. Over the past two decades, VOA has remained my most reliable source of specific and credible new. Despite the strict censorship of China, VOA’s reports still reach millions in China via VPN, social media and branches.
In 2000, I testified before the Congress. I argued against the granting of the status of permanent normal trade relations in China (PNTR), because I have deeply understood the true nature of the Chinese government – an authoritarian regime which systematically suppresses democracy and human rights.
While China rose to become the second world economy, many welcomed it as a success in globalization. But I saw a system built on the exploitation of workers and the erosion of social freedoms. A nation that pursues economic development at the price of fundamental rights of its citizens does not contribute to global stability – it constitutes a threat to world peace.
Many Chinese researchers, technology experts and best professionals choose to move to the United States because they believe in the values that VOA promotes. This is the long -term investment of America in values. The true strength of the United States does not reside in its military or economic prowess, but in its fundamental distinction in authoritarian regimes – it represents freedom, democracy and universal rights.
VOA operates with an annual budget of only $ 260 million, but it serves as a critical pillar of the global information strategy of America. It is not just an expense; It is a commitment to democracy.
If VOA is weakened or closed, authoritarian regimes will only tighten their grip on information, further deleting the truth. For authoritarian governments, the truth itself is a threat. And Voice of America is one of the strongest tools in America in the world battle for the domination of information.
If the American government really wants to maintain its competitive advantage against China, it cannot rely solely on prices or economic policies – it must defend its values.