(TibetanReview.net, Mar19’25) – China has expressed delight over the fact that US President Donald Trump has moved to cut public funding for news outlets – along with others – Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, which have long reported on its human rights abuses, including in Tibet and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). Meanwhile, a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from taking any further steps to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), saying the move likely violated the US constitution “in multiple ways”.
Asked about the Trump administration’s move on the publicly funded media outlets, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said during a daily news briefing: “I think it is no secret that some of the US media you mentioned have a notorious track record in reporting on China,” reported the AFP Mar 18.
The move has affected thousands of employees – some 1,300 staff have been put on paid leave at Voice Of America (VOA) alone, including at its Tibetan service – since Trump’s Mar 14 executive order.
China’s state newspaper Global Times used the news to denounce VOA for its “appalling track record” in reporting on China, saying it has “now been discarded by its own government like a dirty rag”. The editorial called VOA a “lie factory.”
Hu Xijin, the former Global Times editor-in-chief, wrote: “Voice of America has been paralysed! And so has Radio Free Asia, which has been as vicious to China. This is such great news,” noted the bbc.com Mar 18.
While critics have called the move a setback for democracy, the White House has defended its decision, saying it will “ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical (left) propaganda”.
Trump’s cuts target the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which is supported by Congress and funds the affected news outlets, such as VOA, Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Radio Free Europe.
They have won acclaim and international recognition for their reporting in places where press freedom is severely curtailed or non-existent, from China and Cambodia to Russia and North Korea, said the bbc.com report.
Although authorities in some of these countries block the broadcasts – VOA, for instance, is banned in China – people can listen to them on shortwave radio, or get around the restrictions via VPNs.
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Meanwhile, a federal judge has on Mar 18 blocked the Trump administration from taking any further steps to shut down the USAID. Judge Theodore Chuang said the efforts led by Trump ally Elon Musk’s Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE) to close the agency likely violated the US constitution “in multiple ways”, reported the bbc.com Mar 19.
“The court finds that Defendants’ unilateral actions to shut down USAID likely violated the United States Constitution,” edition.cnn.com Mar 18 quoted Judge Theodore of the US District Court in Maryland, as saying.
The DOGE-advised Trump decision on USAID has led to a significant pause in US funding for Tibetan projects in India and Nepal, leading the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to revise its budget during the ongoing exile parliament session with large cuts.
The bbc.com report said Judge Chuang ordered DOGE to restore access to USAID’s computer and payment systems for employees, including those who were placed on leave.
While the judge also ruled that termination of USAID employees should stop, he did not order the reinstating of employees previously placed on leave, the report said.
The ruling came in a case brought on behalf of 26 unnamed USAID employees.
Judge Chuang has ruled that with their move on USAID, Musk and DOGE “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways, and that these actions harmed not only plaintiffs, but also the public interest.”
The report said it was unclear what effect the ruling will have on USAID operations. It cited administration officials as saying more than 80% of its activities had been halted.
The Trump administration has criticised Judge Chuang’s ruling, calling it a “miscarriage of justice”, and vowed to appeal.
USAID has been a powerful soft power tool of the USA for decades.
The Trump administration wants to dismantle USAID on account of its broader “America First” policy, which emphasizes reducing US involvement in international organizations and reassessing global commitments. The administration argues that defunding USAID addresses issues of wasteful spending and corruption in foreign governments, reallocating resources to domestic priorities.