(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) The Voice of America building, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington.
by Nury Turkel, opinion contributor - 04/16/25
America has always been at its best when it stands firmly for truth, freedom and human dignity. Today, that legacy is under threat. Just as the world needs them most, vital American soft power tools — Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty — are at risk of being dismantled by the Trump administration.
I know what that voice sounds like. I first heard it through a shortwave radio in the early 1990s, when I was a university student in China, far from my hometown of Kashgar in the Uyghur region. Isolated and eager to understand the outside world, I tuned in to the BBC and Voice of America. That crackling shortwave signal was my window to freedom. For me, it was more than news — it was a revelation.
I never had formal English training. Everything I learned came from programs like Voice of America’s Special English and Talk to America. I also tuned into its Mandarin service, which helped sharpen my Chinese. Hearing democracy and dissent in the same language used for propaganda was both jarring and electrifying.
Those broadcasts introduced me to American ideals — freedom of speech, democratic movements, political dissent and civil society. They told stories of exiles, reformers and ordinary citizens. They changed my life.
As I wrote in my memoir “No Escape,” those radio signals inspired me to come to America nearly 30 years ago. I became the first U.S.-educated Uyghur corporate lawyer, a congressionally appointed official and a human rights advocate.
Over the last two decades, I have given countless interviews to Voice of America’s English, Uzbek, Turkish, Persian, Tibetan and Mandarin programs — sharing stories from the very nation whose ideals once reached me across oceans and borders.
Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty also played a critical role. As someone with ties to Central Asia, the outlet helped me understand the region’s political developments. As former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, I spoke to its audiences about why Americans care about protecting freedom for everyone, everywhere.
Two years ago, I visited Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s headquarters in Prague and sat in the same chair once occupied by Václav Havel. I met brave reporters covering the war in Ukraine who were risking their lives to deliver the truth.
But my deepest connection is with Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service. When it first launched, I applied to be a reporter, hoping to deliver uncensored news to my people. Since then, I’ve spoken on its Uyghur, Tibetan and Mandarin programs to explain U.S. policy and offer hope to those still silenced.
After 9/11, when China labeled itself a victim of terrorism, I used Radio Free Asia to explain how Beijing exploited global rhetoric to justify oppression. I clarified that America’s fight was never against the Uyghur people. I explained a justice system they had never known. My late father, like many Uyghur intellectuals, listened to Radio Free Asia at great risk. It gave them hope to know that the American people stood with them.
The journalists at Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service are heroes. They have exposed China’s concentration camps, forced labor, abuses against women and children and the destruction of places of worship and sacred sites. Their work helped lead to the U.S. government’s recognition of China’s actions as genocide and laid the groundwork for the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. This seminal law bans products made with Uyghur forced labor and protects American consumers, workers and businesses from unfair and unethical trade.
Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur journalists have had loved ones imprisoned or sent to camps because of their work for the American people. Now these same journalists face the loss of their livelihoods. We ask them to risk everything for truth. The least we can do is make sure their microphones stay on.
These networks are not perfect. At times, editorial decisions have strayed from their core mission. But those rare missteps call for reform, not retreat. These outlets need a reboot, not a burial.
Yes, there is waste across government. But gutting the only free media outlets that reach persecuted populations — like the Uyghurs — is not the answer. The U.S. remains the only country with the legislative and policy tools to confront China’s genocide. Silencing that voice now would be morally indefensible and strategically short-sighted.
Resuming and strengthening these broadcasts is not just a moral imperative — it is a strategic investment in American global leadership. These services don’t just report the news. They offer hope — our sharpest weapon against repression. And they show the world what freedom sounds like.
Now is the time to call on leaders to restore funding and empower these programs to continue their core mission. Doing so will reaffirm America’s leadership and send a message to the world that truth still matters.
This isn’t a partisan issue — it’s a patriotic one. Independent media is one of the most cost-effective and powerful tools in America’s arsenal. It doesn’t require tanks or troops — only truth and access.
Freedom of the press is not just a constitutional principle — it is the beating heart of America’s identity and our greatest export. While dictators invest in propaganda, we should be investing in uncensored news and authentic American stories.
Don’t pull the plug — power it up. Because when America speaks clearly and boldly, the world listens.
Nury Turkel is a lawyer and the award-winning author of “No Escape: The True Story of China’s Genocide of the Uyghurs.” He is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
