This Trump move could silence millions and hand China a ‘strategic victory’
- Li Yuan
- New York Times Mar 28, 2025, 13:10 IST IST
Generations of Chinese, including this columnist, turned to US government-run outlets for an education in democracy, rights and the English language . They got to imagine a world where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were held as ideals. By dismantling Voice of America Trump has crushed their aspirations
In December 1967, when he arrived at a snowy farm on China’s northeastern border with the Soviet Union, Xu Chenggang carried with him an electron tube to help him assemble a radio.
Xu, a 17-year-old Beijing native, would spend the next 10 years there, living in a horse stable and subjected to reeducation and persecution for his anti-revolutionary thinking. One thing that got him through the cold, dark decade was the tube radio that brought him Voice of America programmes.
