‘We are RFA’: The journalists behind the stories

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,…

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After 29 years, RFA is on pause

The newsroom is dark. The microphones are off. Broadcasts have been silenced. Publishing is paused. On social media. On our websites. Due to uncertain funding, Radio Free Asia is not delivering news to our audiences for the first time in our history. For RFA journalists who sacrificed so much in defying powerful and malignant forces, it’s an excruciating moment. And make no mistake, authoritarian regimes are already celebrating RFA’s potential demise. When RFA Uyghur journalists first exposed the violent repression and mass detainment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China harassed and arrested their family members. Still, our journalists bravely continued the work of uncovering atrocities. With the world’s only independent Uyghur-language news service shuttered, China’s propaganda will fester without a potent and effective accountability check. Without RFA Tibetan journalists, China’s campaign of forced assimilation and erasure of Tibetan culture and language will be underreported. As will China’s regime of intimidation and suppression of pro-democracy activism in Hong Kong, which RFA Cantonese journalists regularly exposed at great risk to their own personal safety. Without RFA Mandarin, WHYNOT and Asia Fact Check Lab, independent reporting and fact-checking in the most widely spoken of all Chinese dialects is severely diminished. Without RFA journalism in Vietnam, where at least four RFA contributors remain imprisoned, the communist regime has a total monopoly on information disseminated to more than 100 million people. In Myanmar, where later this year the military government is staging long-promised elections largely condemned as a sham, there will be no RFA Burmese journalists scrutinizing the junta’s promise of a free and fair vote. Those journalists were honored this month with two national Murrow Awards for their excellent reporting. Without RFA Korean, 26 million North Koreans isolated by the repressive regime’s war on free speech and a free press will lack a critical link to independent information. RFA Korean journalists were celebrated earlier this year at the 50th annual Gracie Awards for their report on North Korean escapees. RFA Lao journalists exposed the perils of the rush to dam the Mekong River. They also reported on the alarming rise of teenagers trafficked into scam centers in Myanmar, which the United Nations described as a human rights epidemic of exploitation, forced labor and torture. The absence of RFA journalism amputates that fearless reporting in Laos, where criticism of authorities can result in long prison sentences. It was RFA’s Investigative Unit that laid bare the forced labor scam compounds perpetrated by the Prince Group. Just this month, the United States and the United Kingdom imposed sweeping sanctions against the Cambodian conglomerate, designating it a transnational criminal organization. Without our investigative journalists, the schemes that authoritarian regimes and corrupt organizations work so hard to conceal will likely remain hidden. The journalists of RFA Khmer, including those who told heartbreaking stories of surviving the Cambodian genocide, worked tirelessly to expose the persistent corruption and cronyism within Cambodia’s authoritarian government. In response, the regime declared two of our journalists as “hostile to the state,” a broad legal designation used to suppress dissent, and deployed their online troll army to harass our journalists on social media. Even in the face of coordinated intimidation, RFA Khmer journalists never capitulated. Without their reporting, Cambodians lose an important spotlight on flagrant violations of basic human rights by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. When the initial funding disruption earlier this year forced RFA to furlough the majority of our editorial staff, the handful of journalists who remained launched RFA Perspectives, determined to fulfill RFA’s congressionally mandated mission to provide uncensored, accurate news and information in regions across Asia hostile to a free press. That program, too, will end. Independent journalism is at the core of RFA. For the first time since RFA’s inception almost 30 years ago, that voice is at risk. We still believe in the urgency of that mission — and in the resilience of our extraordinary journalists. Once our funding returns, so will we. Stay tuned. Rosa Hwang Executive Editor We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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RFA suspends remaining editorial operations amid funding uncertainty

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

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Myanmar junta says it seized 30 Starlink receivers in scam center raid

Myanmar’s junta said on Monday it raided one of the country’s most notorious cyberscam centers and seized Starlink satellite internet devices. Myanmar government media The Global New Light of Myanmar said the military “conducted operations in KK Park near Myanmar-Thai border” and had “seized 30 sets of Starlink receivers and accessories,” according to the AFP news agency. AFP said that number is only a fraction of the Starlink devices they identified using satellite imagery and drone photography. On the roof of one building alone in KK Park, images showed nearly 80 of the internet dishes. This Sept. 17, 2025, photo shows what appears to be Starlink satellite dishes on the roof in the KK Park complex in Myanmar’s eastern Myawaddy township, as pictured from Mae Sot district in Thailand’s border province of Tak.(Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP) The U.S. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee told the AFP news agency they have begun an investigation into Starlink’s involvement with the centers. While it can call owner Elon Musk to a hearing, it cannot compel him to testify. Starlink parent company SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. In this Feb. 20, 2025, image released by the Chinese government, a group of 200 Chinese citizens suspected of involvement in scam centers are returned to Nanjing, China under the escort of Chinese police after being repatriated from Myawaddy in Myanmar.(Yin Gang, Xinhua via Getty Images) With reporting by AFP. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar junta admits it’s unable to conduct election across entire country

The European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights Kajsa Ollongren said on Thursday that they would not send observers to an election in military-ruled Myanmar, as it was unlikely to result in a credible outcome, according to the Reuters news agency. It follows Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing admitting on Wednesday that the military-backed administration will be unable to conduct an upcoming general election across the entire country, as a civil war triggered by a 2021 coup rages on. Detained Myanmar State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi and president Win Myint during their first court appearance in Naypyidaw, May 24, 2021.(Myanmar Ministry of Information via AFP) The military doesn’t control all of Myanmar. Vast swaths are administered by a range of armed militias, ethnic groups and pro-democracy fighters, some in open, armed conflict with the ruling junta. The junta has invited ASEAN countries to send observers for the election, due to start on December 28 and to continue in phases into January. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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