China’s state-controlled media applauds US President Donald Trump‘s recent decision to reduce funding for Voice of America (VOA ) and other US federal government-funded news outlets, calling the move a victory against” Western propaganda.”
The Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, made fun of the sudden breaks in an editor this week, blaming VOA as a” so-called pillar of liberty” that had been “discarded by its own state like a dirty rag.” Trump’s determination was viewed by the editorial as evidence of the declining impact of US government-funded media, which Beijing has long used to destroy its global narrative.
Press independence activists have become alarmed by the cuts, which put nearly all Invoices employees on leave and stopped funding for Radio Free Asia and other sources. The Chinese government has consistently refuted the fact that these stores have previously covered sensitive topics like human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet.
Chinese leaders stifled criticism of the affected media while reversing their decision to directly support Trump’s decision. When questioned about the money cuts, as reported by NewsWeek publication, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning responded,” I do not reply on US private policy changes.” ” But as for the advertising you mentioned, their poor reporting on China is not a secret,” you said.
Another authoritarian figures erupted in applause for their determination to defund the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees these stores. Former Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen, who served for nearly four decades, praised the changes as a punch to “fake reports” and “disinformation.” He described Trump’s action in a written statement as” a major commitment” to stifling the “propaganda system” that had long criticized his program.
Critics of the cuts claim that the reduces weaken China’s ability to assert its supremacy over the data system. Reporters Without Borders executive producer in the US, Clayton Weimers, warned that authoritarian governments like China would be the “biggest losers” of the selection. Weimers said that “many of them are looking forward to filling the gap left by American administration in press freedom with their own propaganda.”
Concerns about the cuts ‘ long-term proper effects are rising in Washington. The leading Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competitors with the Chinese Communist Party, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, called the action a significant diversion from US attempts to issue Beijing’s global communication. According to Krishnamoorthi,” These media sources provide true reporting to millions of people living under authoritarian regimes,” adding that they play a crucial role in exposing Chinese propaganda and providing alternative narratives.
China has a tight control over domestic media and has grown its influence internationally through state-backed outlets like China Global Television Network ( CGTN), which is ranked 172 out of 180 on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. Observers warn that Beijing may take advantage of the opportunity to further condition global discourse to coincide with its interests as the US media presence declines.
China’s state media is currently celebrating what it perceives as a metaphorical battle of its ideological enemy. No one will mourn the loss of the British media, according to the Global Times, because it is “fading.”
