Chinese Nationalists Celebrate Shutdown Of US-Funded Media Outlets

 

Chinese nationalists and state media figures expressed joy after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and other US government-funded media organizations. These outlets have long broadcast independent news to authoritarian regimes, including China, where they provided coverage on issues such as human rights and religious freedom.

For years, Beijing has condemned VOA and RFA for their reporting on sensitive topics, including allegations of abuses in Xinjiang, tensions in the South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong protests, and economic challenges. Now, with the US government pulling its funding, Chinese state media is celebrating what it sees as a major victory.

Chinese State Media and Nationalists Applaud the Decision

An editorial from the Global Times, a Communist Party-run newspaper, described VOA as a “lie factory” with a history of spreading falsehoods about China. The piece claimed that as Americans gain a broader perspective on China, VOA’s influence would become irrelevant.

Nationalist commentators on Chinese social media platforms echoed these sentiments. Hu Xijin, a well-known former editor of the Global Times, wrote on Weibo, “Voice of America has been paralyzed! And so has Radio Free Asia, which is just as malicious toward China. How truly gratifying!” He added that the collapse of these organizations represented the downfall of a key US ideological tool.

Other commentators accused VOA and RFA of being instruments of “color revolutions,” referring to the pro-democracy movements that reshaped parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the early 2000s. Some even revived an old internet nickname for Trump, “Chuan Jianguo” (meaning "Trump, the Nation Builder"), a term suggesting that his policies were inadvertently benefiting China.

The Global Impact of the Closure

VOA has played a key role in broadcasting news into China for decades, becoming a vital source of uncensored information during major events such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Although its Chinese-language radio service ended in 2011, its digital presence remained a key platform for independent news. RFA, which launched in 1996, has focused on stories affecting China’s ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs and Tibetans, groups that Beijing has been accused of oppressing.

RFA CEO Bay Fang criticized the funding cut as “a reward to dictators and despots” who want to control the global information space.

While the White House defended the move as a cost-saving measure against “radical propaganda,” the closure of these media outlets coincides with China’s ongoing efforts to expand its global influence. Under leader Xi Jinping, Beijing has significantly increased funding for its own state media, consolidating multiple networks under a massive propaganda arm known as "Voice of China" to promote its narratives worldwide.

As US-funded stations shut down, China is rapidly filling the gap, ensuring its state-backed messages reach an even broader international audience.