07/06/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09989

NO END TO JAMMING

The words are plain in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right. . .to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." In the Cold War, the Soviet Union violated this universal right by jamming international radio broadcasts. Today, the Cold War is a fading memory. But the practice of jamming has not faded with it.

The Chinese government began jamming Mandarin language broadcasts of the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation in the spring of 1989, as students and others held huge pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and other places. The jamming continued after the Chinese army crushed the peaceful demonstrations in June 1989. More than thirteen years later, the jamming goes on. Moreover, when the United States-supported Radio Free Asia began its Mandarin broadcasts in 1996, China began blocking them as well.

The Chinese government also jams Tibetan language broadcasts of V-O-A, Radio Free Asia, and the Norway-based Voice of Tibet. Indeed, the jamming has intensified in recent months. And China jams Cantonese language broadcasts of R-F-A. In 1998, R-F-A began broadcasting in the Uighur language to Muslims in northwestern China and central Asia. These broadcasts are also jammed. Lately, Chinese signals have been blocking some V-O-A broadcasts in the Uzbek language.

Another government that interferes with international broadcasts is the Communist regime in Cuba. It jams both Radio and Television Marti. These U.S. stations seek to provide the Cuban people with accurate, objective, and comprehensive news and information. In addition, North Korea tries to block broadcasts of both V-O-A and Radio Free Asia. And Vietnam jams R-F-A.

To counter jamming, V-O-A and other U.S.-supported broadcasters use a variety of technical means. They use more powerful transmitters and broadcast on multiple frequencies. And one way or another, the programs usually get through to listeners.

As Marc Nathanson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, has made clear, the U.S. intends "to stand firm in the face of efforts to silence our voice."