Radio Free Asia (RFA) has resumed its broadcasts in Mandarin, Tibetan, and Uyghur.
President and CEO Bay Fang announced on LinkedIn on Wednesday that the services were back after US President Donald Trump cut off government funding last year.
“This critical work, which we’ve been able to resume due to private contracting with transmission services, is already making waves,” Fang said. “RFA’s Uyghur Service aired a report over the weekend about how children of detainees in Xinjiang are being forced into manual labor at a young age instead of going to school.”
RFA is credited with breaking the story of Xinjiang internment camps. Beijing denies rights abuses in its Muslim region.
Fang added that their Korean and Burmese services resumed broadcasts last December.
“RFA’s incredible journalists and technicians, as well as our legal and HR teams, have made this all possible. I cannot be more proud of everyone behind this effort to get back on our feet as we enter a critical phase for our organization’s present and future,” she said.
Long a thorn in Beijing’s side, RFA halted all news production in October last year after funding from Washington ceased. By then, it had already laid off or furloughed over 90 per cent of its staff.
Trump froze almost all state funding for independent media in early 2025.
RFA’s Cantonese services halted operations last July after 27 years. It is not among the services which resumed.