by Sasha Gong
A whistleblower exposes deep Chinese influence at Voice of America, detailing censorship, retaliation, and high-level ties between VOA leadership and Beijing.
When President Donald Trump signed an executive order to downsize the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Kari Lake, a senior advisor at the agency, released a statement exposing alarming findings: “Massive national security violations, including spies and terrorists.” The White House also published an article titled “Voice of Radical America,” highlighting a particularly egregious case:
“In May 2019, Voice of America fired reporters for their roles in canceling a broadcast midstream after pressure from the Chinese government.”
I was at the heart of that incident.
When I joined Voice of America (VOA) in 2011, I was stunned by the extent of Chinese government influence within the organization. This wasn’t just about self-censorship; it was an active effort to serve Beijing’s interests. VOA management provided free labor to Chinese state-controlled TV stations and imposed strict bans on reporting topics deemed “sensitive” by Beijing—including Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Falun Gong movement.
VOA’s senior executives frequently traveled to China, attending state-sponsored events and meeting with Chinese embassy officials in Washington, D.C. These meetings weren’t casual diplomatic exchanges; they involved soliciting feedback on VOA’s programming. When I became director of the China Branch, I resisted these practices. I canceled programs that prioritized Chinese government interests over American public service. My supervisors bypassed me, communicating directly with Chinese officials in Beijing and at the embassy. This only emboldened the Chinese government.
In April 2017, VOA’s Mandarin Service scheduled a landmark live interview with a Chinese billionaire-turned-whistleblower, a figure deeply entangled with China’s state security apparatus. The VOA leadership initially celebrated the scoop, which was set to air on April 19—one hour on satellite TV and two additional hours on Facebook. Today, extended online broadcasts are common, but in 2017, this was a groundbreaking move.
On April 17, two days before the scheduled broadcast, the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned VOA’s Beijing correspondent and demanded the interview be canceled, calling it an “interference in China’s affairs” and threatening severe retaliation. The following day, Chinese Embassy officials in Washington launched a relentless pressure campaign, flooding VOA management with phone calls demanding compliance. Instead of standing firm for journalistic independence, VOA management caved. After consulting with Chinese officials, VOA Deputy Director Sandy Sugawara personally called my team in New York and ordered us to cancel the broadcast.
I refused.
Realizing they couldn’t outright cancel the interview without facing backlash, management then suggested we avoid any discussion about Chinese state security—an absurd request, given that this was the crux of the whistleblower’s revelations. Notably, they never issued a formal order to the Mandarin Service, perhaps aware of how blatantly they were violating journalistic integrity.
On the morning of April 19, VOA’s production director confirmed that the full three-hour live broadcast would proceed. However, one hour and 15 minutes in, just as my co-host Fred Wang pressed the whistleblower on corruption within China’s state security, a VOA manager stormed into the office and ordered Robert Li, a veteran journalist overseeing Mandarin Service’s internet operations, to cut the feed.
Li protested, arguing that such an action violated VOA’s operational guidelines. Meanwhile, I was on the phone with the show director when Li warned me in real-time, giving me just enough time to signal Fred to wrap up. One disturbing detail: The manager who ordered the broadcast cut-off was the son of the Washington bureau chief for the People’s Daily, the Chinese version of Pravda. This individual played an unusually aggressive role in the shutdown, and his family held prominent positions in the Chinese government.
When my team returned to Washington, we didn’t receive commendations for resisting foreign influence. Instead, management launched an internal investigation—not into their own actions, but into us. I, along with four colleagues, was placed on administrative leave, signaling an impending termination. Determined to expose what had happened, I penned an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal: How China Managed to Muffle the Voice of America.
The story gained widespread media attention and caught the eye of Congress. Senator Marco Rubio publicly questioned Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about the controversy.
Instead of addressing the concerns, VOA spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on four separate investigations—targeting us, the whistleblowers. They even hired a team from Beijing, including Chinese citizens. Leading this “investigation” was James McGregor, then the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing and a close ally of China’s top officials. McGregor had lived in China for 25 years, doing business and lobbying in the United States for Beijing. He was also a longtime friend of Donald Graham, the former owner of The Washington Post, who ran a major business in China with partners including CCP party schools. Conveniently, Graham was married to VOA’s then-director, Amanda Bennett.
VOA also enlisted left-leaning media outlets to smear us. It intentionally leaked our personal information, including passport copies and real names. Its PR department fed statements to outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, and LA Times to further tarnish our reputations.
I was fired in November 2018. Fred Wang and Robert Li were terminated in April 2019, just as the White House article referenced.
As a former political prisoner, I am no stranger to persecution. I have learned resilience. Some of my colleagues were not as fortunate. One of my colleagues developed heart disease from the stress; another became suicidal.
Yet one question lingers: How much did VOA’s top managers gain from their ties to Beijing?
The answer may never be fully known. But one thing is clear—Voice of America was compromised at the highest levels, and the consequences were devastating to America.
***
Sasha Gong is former director of the Chinese branch of the Voice of America.
Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/03/19/chinese-influence-at-voice-of-america/
No comments:
Post a Comment