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By PHELIM KINE
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Hi, China Watchers.
Let's get to it. — Phelim. Today we look at DOGE's threat to Radio Free Asia, kick the tires of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's China policy and gauge anxiety levels on Guam about a possible future conflict with China.
'A gift to the CCP' —Lawmakers rail at DOGE move on Radio Free Asia
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Radio Free Asia — the U.S. government-funded broadcaster that beams local language news to populations living under authoritarian rule across Asia — is now in the crosshairs of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
It was reported this week that DOGE staffers have been probing the operations of the agency that oversees RFA and other similar regional outlets. Your China Watcher host has more details about actions being taken against the broadcasters.
DOGE personnel have taken steps to starve RFA — a key tool for the U.S. government to counter Beijing's censorship and influence abroad — of its congressional funding, two people familiar with the cost-cutters' activities at the agency told China Watcher. We granted them anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
"DOGE has imposed a 30-day freeze on funding to RFA and other AGM media outlets and is looking to make that permanent," said one of those two people. That funding freeze coincides with an ongoing effort by DOGE personnel within the agency to tally contracts and grants that sustain RFA in a bid to determine "how they could be cut off," said the second person.
RFA aims to deliver "uncensored, domestic news and information" to countries including China, Tibet, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma. And Beijing hates it. "For the past 28 years, RFA has never ceased its fabrication, attack and smear campaign against China," Chinese state media reported in 2023.
Democratic lawmakers are rallying to defend the award-winning media platform.
"Radio Free Asia has provided a rare free speech platform inside some of the world's most challenging authoritarian regimes," said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.).
Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), ranking member of the House Select Committee on China, warned that closing RFA would damage U.S. soft power overseas.
"Cutting funding to RFA would be a gift to the Chinese Communist Party particularly in the developing world, where Beijing is already pouring billions into reshaping the media landscape to serve its authoritarian interests," said Krishnamoorthi.
And even some Republican supporters of the media platform are speaking out.
"Gutting Radio Free Asia and other U.S. Agency for Global Media platforms counters the principles of freedom our nation was founded on and cedes leverage to the Chinese Communist Party, North Korea and other regimes," said Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.), chair of the House Select Committee on East Asia and Pacific.
Kim isn't alone in the GOP in such views. RFA "emits some of the only transparent reporting from most countries in Southeast Asia, where the CCPs disinformation campaigns are the strongest," said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
RFA is overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which also supervises outlets including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Cuba-focused Radio and Television Martí. Radio Free Asia declined to comment on DOGE's threat to its operations. Neither DOGE nor AGM responded to requests for comment. Kari Lake, who AGM's acting executive director Ramon Napoli appointed the agency's special adviser last month, declined to comment.
TRANSLATING WASHINGTON
Image courtesy of the Chinese embassy |
— EMBASSY TO WORLD: CHOOSE CHINA: Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu has rolled out a nifty new graphic on X to throw shade on the Trump administration's foreign and trade policies. The six-panel graphic doesn't tread softly. For example, an image of a jumble of U.S. dollars, weapons and a pool of blood is captioned "Scare." Next to it is an image of a robot, a Chinese-style high speed train and an electric vehicle with the caption "Share." In case we all miss the point, Liu’s text for the X post reads "Always choose the right side. #China🇨🇳 ."
— FCC LAUNCHES 'COUNCIL FOR NATIONAL SECURITY': Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, is launching a group to address China's threats to U.S. "networks, devices, and technology ecosystem." The FCC's new Council for National Security combines personnel from eight of the agency's bureaus and offices and counter dangers "that cut across a range of sectors the FCC regulates," Carr said in a statement Wednesday. The council's goals include sharpening the U.S.' competitive edge against China in critical technologies including quantum computing, protecting against foreign adversaries' surveillance and cyberattacks and reducing supply chain dependencies, the statement said. POLITICO's Maggie Miller has the full story here (for U.S. Pros!)
— LAWMAKERS TARGET CHINA'S FENTANYL PRODUCTION ROLE: A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Tuesday to expand federal efforts to combat China's role in the U.S. opioid epidemic. The Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics Act — introduced by Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Chris Coons — will create an investigative body staffed by representatives from agencies including the Defense, Homeland Security and Commerce Departments. Its mission: Disrupt the operations of "traffickers and foreign entities, particularly in the People's Republic of China, complicit in the opioid trade," said the bill's text. If the legislation passes the Senate, it also has a good chance in the House, given that it has the support of House lawmakers including House Select Committee on China Chair Moolenaar and ranking member Krishnamoorthi.
"China has taken strong measures to assist the U.S. in addressing the fentanyl issue — efforts that are widely recognized," said Liu at the Chinese embassy.
TRANSLATING EUROPE
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Tom Tugendhat, U.K. opposition Conservative Party lawmaker, is a China hawk who served two years as the country's security minister (and who landed a fellowship at the Hudson Institute in Washington last month).
China Watcher talked to Tugendhat about how the U.K. should respond to the challenge of China's growing global influence. He has harsh words for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's effort to try to reboot fractious relations with Beijing through "engagement, of cooperating where we need to cooperate." That outreach seems to be paying off — the U.K's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves came home from Beijing in January with $750 million in investment deals. Hugendhat argues that those gains are illusory.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What's your problem with Starmer's China policy?
They're trying to play the same game that was played 13 years ago and that sadly failed, and they’re playing it as though we — the United Kingdom — are the changing factor here. And of course, that’s not true. The changing factor is the arrival of [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping. Chinese nationalist politics have changed our relationship.
So my guess is we’ll get exactly what Rachel Reeves got — 600 million pounds over five years. That’s 120 million pounds a year, which is a rounding error for a not particularly large business. It’s not much, so I don't think we're getting much out of this.
What would you do differently?
Maintain the engagement at an official level. Send senior trade envoys and senior government officials.
But the prime minister should use his political weight to deepen relationships that are going to make a difference, like within the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or building up relationships with India. The idea that China is the only game in town is just not true.
The Chinese are trading with us because it profits them. They’re not doing it out of charity or for friendship. And so we should maintain that. But we should be using political influence in areas where we can effect change.
What do you think of chatter that Trump may pursue a "grand bargain" with Xi to address friction in the U.S.-China relationship?
When we talk about these sorts of grand bargains there's an assumption that they will work. I just don’t buy that. Just look at [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy three years ago. President Biden’s team offered him an extraction from Kyiv. And his answer was, "I need ammunition. I don’t need a ride." Everybody gets a vote, not just you, not just the enemy, but everybody. And if those parties refuse to play, then whatever you think you sold, you didn’t sell.
I’m always cautious of those who think that there’s a grand bargain possible. The Taiwanese get a say. The Ukrainians get a say. Other European countries get a say. The Japanese get a say. The Philippines gets a say. Everybody gets a say.
HOT FROM THE CHINA WATCHERSPHERE
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— TAIWAN REJECTS TRUMP'S DEFENSE SPENDING DEMAND: Taiwan's efforts to charm the Trump administration hit a pothole Wednesday when Premier Cho Jung-tai declared that raising the island's defense spending to 10 percent of gross domestic product was infeasible. That's a target that both Trump and his nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby, have said is optimal to fend off potential Chinese aggression.
Taiwan "does not have the capability to allocate a defense budget" of that size, Cho told lawmakers Wednesday, per Taiwan state media. Taiwan's government has scrambled in recent weeks to address Trump's skepticism about U.S.-Taiwan ties by hinting at big-ticket weapons purchase plans and green lighting a $100 billion investment in the U.S. by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.
— MISSOURI EYES SEIZURE OF CHINESE ASSETS: The state of Missouri plans to seize and sell Chinese assets in the U.S. to pay a court-ordered $24 billion in damages for China's role in the Covid pandemic. A federal judge awarded that sum to Missouri last week after ruling in favor of a lawsuit by the state's GOP Attorney General Andrew Bailey. Beijing didn't contest the lawsuit and hasn't signaled if or how it might either appeal the ruling or pay the damages.
Bailey isn't waiting around. "Missouri intends to collect," he told China Watcher. "We’re going to identify Chinese owned assets in the state of Missouri and across the United States of America and work with willing partners to seize and convert those assets to sell to execute the judgment."
Beijing has 30 days from the date of the judge's decision to appeal the court decision. But Bailey says if it does so he'll "contest the legal validity" of that appeal based on Beijing's failure to engage on the initial lawsuit.
The Chinese embassy's Liu said Beijing "will never accept" the court judgement but declined comment on whether China will appeal it. "Launching frivolous lawsuits to smear and scapegoat China will lead nowhere," Liu added.
HEADLINES
NBC News: Tariffs could deal a blow to Chinatowns that have no choice but to import cultural goods, locals say
Wall Street Journal: China is waging a 'gray zone' campaign to cement power. Here's how it looks
Nature: Foreign researchers in China face tightening restrictions
Focus Taiwan: Civil defense guide for expats updated as China ramps up pressure
HEADS UP
— CHINA HOSTS RUSSIA, IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS: The Chinese government will convene Russian and Iranian senior officials Friday to discuss the future of Tehran's nuclear program. China's Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will sit down in Beijing with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Alexeevich to "exchange views on the Iranian nuclear issue and other issues of mutual interest," the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Mao said Wednesday. Those talks coincide with rising pressure on Iran from both the U.S. and Israel to restrain its development of a nuclear weapon. Trump hinted last week at possible military action against the Iranian nuclear program if his administration fails to seal a deal curbing Tehran's nuclear weapons development program. U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Israel may launch military strikes against Iranian nuclear program facilities sometime this year, CNN reported last month.
THREE MINUTES WITH
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Robert Underwood served as the Democratic Party's congressional delegate for Guam from 1993-2003 and is now the founding chair of the regional-focused Pacific Center for Island Security think tank. Underwood spoke with China Watcher following the institute's first public event in Washington, which examined how U.S. government treatment of Guam and the Northern Marianas as "a hedge" against China's regional ambitions is rankling their residents.
Guam is often seen as a frontline military outpost key to U.S. strategy against China. How does your think tank fit in that narrative?
It’s a push back. We understand where that narrative comes from, and the historic role that Guam and these other islands have played in geostrategic thinking. The military always tells us that if you want peace, you have to prepare for war. And so our response is "Why are we in constant preparation for war, and why are we having to bear the brunt of the worst-case scenario thinking?"
How do the people of Guam feel about their status as a potential first target in a conflict with Beijing?
During the Cold War, Guam was always seen as the tip of the spear. It was the basis from which you could project military power into theaters of conflict in Asia. This is the first time that Guam is being thought of as a "first strike community." Now that’s different. The capabilities of Chinese missiles to hit us, this makes it become more real and more dramatic. And I think people are very, very uncomfortable.
Isn't Chinese economic and diplomatic influence in the region a potential threat to stability?
The conversation is always to advise Pacific Island countries not to allow the Chinese to invest, because there’s unwanted consequences and strings and ties to Chinese economic investment. Yet there’s no U.S. economic investment out here. None. And I don’t know why. If you’re competing economically with China, why don’t you encourage U.S. companies [to invest]?
Trump administration cuts to the State Dept might derail Biden administration plans to deepen U.S. engagement in the region through new diplomatic outposts in countries including Tonga and Kiribati. How might that impact U.S. influence in the region?
It leaves a wide opening for the Chinese — unless there’s some kind of implicit understanding that maybe there’ll be increased soft power initiatives from New Zealand and Australia and Japan.
I hope that the Trump administration sees the COFA deals as inviolable agreements that you can’t mess around with simply because they sort of look like foreign aid. If those states are jerked around, or their lives are made a little bit uncomfortable in receiving that assistance, that’s a lesson for the rest of the Pacific islands.
How can you say that you want to be a friend to the islands in the Pacific when you don’t treat your closest friends in a way that is respectful?
Thanks to: Heidi Vogt, Maggie Miller and digital producers Emma Cordover and Lola Boom.
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