Chinese Media Praises Trump’s Cuts to Voice of America

Chinese State Media Applauds Trump’s Defunding of Voice of America

WASHINGTON – Chinese state media has welcomed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to slash funding for Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), two major publicly funded broadcasters known for their reporting on authoritarian regimes.

The move, enacted through an executive order, has placed approximately 1,300 VOA employees on paid leave as of last Friday. The broader cuts target the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the congressional-backed entity responsible for financing VOA, RFA, and Radio Free Europe.

While critics have condemned the decision as a blow to press freedom and democratic values, Beijing’s state-run Global Times took a different stance, denouncing VOA’s coverage of China. In an editorial, the newspaper labeled the outlet’s reporting “appalling” and described its defunding as akin to being “discarded like a dirty rag.”

The White House defended the funding cuts, arguing that American taxpayers should not have to subsidize what it called “radical propaganda.” Trump’s administration has long been critical of publicly funded international media outlets, accusing them of biased reporting.

Impact on Global Press Freedom

The affected broadcasters have been instrumental in delivering independent news to regions where press freedom is severely restricted, including China, North Korea, Russia, and Cambodia. Despite government-imposed bans in some of these countries—such as China’s outright prohibition of VOA—audiences have continued to access these broadcasts through shortwave radio and virtual private networks (VPNs).

RFA, for instance, has been a key source of reporting on human rights violations in Cambodia. Hun Sen, Cambodia’s former authoritarian leader, praised Trump’s funding cuts as a “major step toward eliminating fake news.”

The outlet was also among the first to expose China’s network of detention centers in Xinjiang, where authorities are accused of detaining hundreds of thousands of Uyghur Muslims without trial. Beijing has denied these allegations, insisting that the facilities are “re-education camps” designed to combat extremism.

Similarly, VOA’s investigative work has earned recognition for its reporting on North Korean defectors and the Chinese Communist Party’s alleged cover-up of COVID-19 deaths—journalism that has won international awards.

While Trump’s cuts have sparked debate over the role of publicly funded media, their long-term impact on press freedom, particularly in regions where access to independent news is limited, remains uncertain.