US President Donald Trump’s move to close the agency that oversees Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia has drawn praise in China and Cambodia that have long been critical of US media outlets.
Former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen praised Trump for combating fake news by shutting down the US Agency for Global Media.
China’s state-run Global Times used an editorial to celebrate the closing of VOA, which it called a “lie factory” for “stirring up conflicts, inciting social divisions, and even participating in regime change efforts.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We should highly appreciate President Donald Trump for his courage to lead the world in combating fake news, starting with news outlets funded by the US government,” Hun Sen, who was prime minister for almost four decades until he was succeeded by his son in 2023, wrote in a Facebook post late on Monday. “This is a big contribution to eliminating fake news.”
Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at reducing the scope of eight federal agencies, including the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other news organizations.
The move is the latest from the administration that is working with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to carry out mass firings of federal workers and the wholesale elimination of agencies such as the US Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
VOA director Michael Abramowitz announced over the weekend that virtually the entire staff of more than 1,300 journalists, producers and their colleagues were place on administrative leave. The broadcaster, which started out in 1942 and operates in nearly 50 languages, has been regarded as “propaganda poison” by Chinese state news media for reporting ranging from forced labor in Xinjiang to the 2019 Hong Kong protests.
“Clearly, VOA has never been a ‘fair and impartial’ media outlet,” Global Times wrote on Monday. “The continued existence of these institutions only brings more chaos and creates more trouble for the world.”
Russia’s reaction to the closures was more muted. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the US media outlets “can hardly be classified as popular and in demand in the Russian Federation, so it doesn’t really concern us,” according to Reuters.
However, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavsky said the work of the Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is crucial and pledged to discuss with EU foreign ministers how to keep it at least partially operational.
RFE/RL CEO Stephen Capus warned that canceling grants for the broadcasters would be a “massive gift to America’s enemies,” in reference to the leaders of China, Russia and Iran. “Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker.”
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS