Year: 2025

Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists operate under conditions of extreme personal risk and sacrifice, driven by a sense of duty to deliver uncensored news to populations under authoritarian regimes. Due to uncertain funding, Radio Free Asia will pause its editorial operations on Oct. 31, 2025. These video testimonies for the series “We are RFA” were recorded in March 2025, in the days following the termination of RFA’s Congressionally appropriated grant. Since then, more than 90% of the editorial staff was furloughed or laid off. Truong Son, RFA Vietnamese Video: Truong Son, RFA VietnameseTruong Son, director of RFA Vietnamese, has not been able to return home since he began working at RFA. For him, this is not only a job but also a duty. “We bear the responsibility to tell the truth and break the censorship and propaganda the Vietnamese authorities impose on the entire society,” he said, adding that some people have been imprisoned in Vietnam for writing for RFA. Losing RFA would mean the communist regime in Vietnam gains total control over information for 100 million people, he said. Hye Jun Seo and Jamin Anderson, RFA Korean Video: Hye Jun Seo and Jamin Anderson, RFA KoreanFor decades, Radio Free Asia has been a critical source of uncensored news for North Koreans living under an authoritarian regime with extremely limited access to information. “RFA’s mission is to protect the North Korean people’s right to know and their right to freedom of speech,” said RFA Korean reporter Jamin Anderson, who along with her colleague Hye Jun Seo have interviewed many North Korean escapees. “We want our audience to hear their stories.” Mamatjan Juma, RFA Uyghur Video: Mamatjan Juma, RFA UyghurRFA Uyghur journalists and their families have faced ongoing intimidation tactics from the Chinese government for years. “China arrested and sentenced at least 50 of our colleagues’ relatives and loved ones in an attempt to stop us from what we are doing,” said RFA Uyghur’s Mamatjan Juma. Their job has been reporting on China’s treatment of the Uyghur people, which the United States government has designated as genocide and crimes against humanity. Aye Aye Mon, RFA Burmese Video: Aye Aye Mon, RFA BurmeseRFA Burmese journalist Aye Aye Mon was forced to flee Myanmar after the military coup in 2021. She has risked her life and her freedom to return and report on the civil war and its impact on the people of Myanmar. “It’s an honor to provide a voice for those who need it most,” she said. Eugene Whong, RFA English Video: Eugene Whong, RFA EnglishRFA podcast host and editor Eugene Whong has been the voice behind many video reports. In 2021, he reported on Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing, the first peaceful protester killed by the Myanmar junta following the coup in 2021. “I realized that at that moment these were not just words that I was reading into a microphone,” he said. “It’s an actual account of events that happened to real people.” Kitty Wang, RFA Mandarin Video: Kitty Wang, RFA MandarinRFA Mandarin journalist Kitty Wang said that the Chinese government’s suppression of information about the Tiananmen Square massacre shaped her as a journalist, forging her commitment to protecting and upholding freedom of information. “Without it [information], there can be no freedom of thought. Without it, people live in darkness. Through my work at RFA, I hope to bring them light,” Kitty said. Win Ei San, RFA Burmese Video: Win Ei San, RFA BurmeseWin Ei San arrived in the U.S. as a refugee and has been working as a graphic designer for RFA Burmese for a year and a half. “I have learned so many things in such a short time,” said San, who has worked on projects related to the ongoing civil war in Myanmar and its casualties. “I have so much more I want to do.” Vuthy Huot, RFA Khmer Video: Vuthy Huot, RFA Khmer“If we don’t keep fighting, we won’t survive,” said RFA journalist Vuthy Huot who survived a genocide by the Khmer Rouge. As a journalist with RFA Khmer, he tells stories that matter to local people. “The information is not filtered, not controlled, by the government. The information that helps them make the right decisions.” RFA Cantonese journalist Video: RFA Cantonese journalist“I have to hide my identity because all Hong Kong people are under the threat of the National Security Law,” said this RFA Cantonese journalist. Threatened by China’s transnational repression, he had to leave his home in pursuit of a safe space to practice independent journalism. “If I stay in Hong Kong and bow to the government, we have to sacrifice our principles as independent journalists.” Tashi Wangchuk, RFA Tibetan Video: Tashi Wangchuk, RFA TibetanRadio Free Asia’s Tibetan Service has served as a bridge connecting people living under Chinese rule in Tibet with the outside world. However, this role comes with significant risks, said Tashi Wangchuk, a journalist for RFA Tibetan Service. “For me personally, I have received threats from the Chinese government throughout my journalism career, and these have progressively gotten worse,” he said, adding that such intimidation will not deter him from delivering truthful reporting to his audience. Souphatta, RFA Lao Video: Souphatta, RFA LaoRFA Lao journalist Souphatta has been reporting on human trafficking stories for three years. She began after a mother contacted her asking for help in rescuing her daughter. In the years since, parents and younger people trapped in scam centers have told Souphatta that “without RFA, they would not have a future.” Khet Mar, RFA Burmese Video: Khet Mar, RFA BurmeseThe ongoing civil war in Myanmar, which started after the 2021 coup, has killed tens of thousands of people. During that time, RFA journalists have shed light on the human cost of the war and brought global attention to the fight for democracy. “While our voice has been diminished, our fight for human rights, press freedom, and a just future for Myanmar continues,” said Khet Mar, an RFA Burmese journalist. Alim Seytoff, RFA Uyghur Video: Alim Seytoff,…

Protective measures taken with hope of rebuilding news operations in future WASHINGTON – With the government shutdown and delay in receiving funding for the new fiscal year, effective Oct. 31, Radio Free Asia (RFA) will halt all production of news content for the time being. The move is part of a plan for the Congressionally-funded private corporation to implement cost-saving measures that can help sustain the organization should appropriated funding streams resume. President and CEO Bay Fang issued the following statement: “Because of the fiscal reality and uncertainty about our budgetary future, RFA has been forced to suspend all remaining news content production – for the first time in its 29 years of existence. In an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding become available, RFA is taking further steps to responsibly shrink its already reduced footprint. “This means initiating a process of closing down overseas bureaus and formally laying off furloughed staff and paying their severance – many of whom have been on unpaid leave since March, when the U.S. Agency for Global Media unlawfully terminated RFA’s Congressionally appropriated grant. “However drastic these measures may seem, they position RFA, a private corporation, for a future in which it would be possible to scale up and resume providing accurate, uncensored news for people living in some of the world’s most closed places.” During its tenure, RFA’s groundbreaking reporting on the Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang, the CCP’s cover-up of COVID-19 fatalities, the unfolding crisis in Myanmar since the 2021coup, Chinese hydropower projects in the Tibetan regions, and the journeys of North Korean defectors has built a public record of transparency in some of the world’s most repressive places, holding autocrats and elites accountable to their people and internationally. Other measures to conserve resources on hand include ending leases of overseas offices and bureaus in Dharamsala, Taipei, Seoul, Istanbul, Bangkok, and Yangon. In the last five years, RFA created new editorial units focused on China’s malign influence in the Indo-Pacific region and globally, investigating PRC secret police stations in the United States and Europe, election interference by the Chinese Communist Party in Taiwan and other Asian countries, and PRC influence operations in Pacific island countries. RFA’s incisive brand of journalism has made it and its journalists a constant target, with its reporters facing pressure and threats since its inaugural report in Mandarin was heard in China on Sept. 29, 1996. Authorities in China, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia have detained family members, sources, reporters, and contributors. Listeners in North Korea have been severely punished and reportedly executed for accessing RFA’s reports. Nevertheless, RFA’s journalistic operations have until now withstood government intimidation and attacks. In the months since the USAGM illegally terminated its Congressionally appropriated grant to RFA, and despite layoffs and furloughs that diminished editorial staff by more than 90%, the private grantee has continued to fulfill its Congressional mandate to provide accurate, timely news to people living in some of the most closed media environments in Asia thanks to a preliminary injunction issued by the United States Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, which USAGM has appealed. RFA has also continued to win awards for its reporting, including two national Edward R. Murrow awards in August and a Gracie Award in March. While many services, including RFA Uyghur and Tibetan, have already gone dark, others have continued to produce limited output, including RFA Burmese, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and Vietnamese. But these will cease on Oct. 31. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika