“Listening to Enemy Radios”—— A Secret Treat for Officials and Citizens

Hello everyone, it's Michael here. In the age of the internet, the Chinese Communist Party built the Great Firewall to censor foreign websites and prevent Chinese people from accessing overseas internet sites. However, no matter how advanced technology has become, freedom cannot be imprisoned. More and more people are able to climb over the Great Firewall by using VPN and other tools to discover the outside world, and have become more aware of the evil doings of the CCP. Interestingly, such situations occurred in China more than 50 years ago. Many articles recalling the Cultural Revolution referred to listening to enemy radios. Enemy radio was a term coined by the Chinese Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution to refer to radio broadcasts from outside the mainland, both in Chinese and foreign languages. Radio enthusiasts or mainland Chinese residents with shortwave or high sensitivity radios listens to these broadcasts, such as The Voice of America, Radio Moscow Chinese, and The Voice of Free China in Taiwan, etc. Some Chinese people listen to such broadcasts intentionally, others unintentionally. But if they were discovered by the CCP, they would be called out as eavesdropping on enemy radios, which would put them in great trouble. The Xinhua News Agency's internal reference once published a series of articles saying that many people were listening to The Voice of America in big cities such as Tianjin, Shanghai, Wuhan, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Changsha, Taiya, etc. People listened to overseas radio because these radio stations transmit more authentic information than the CCP's reports, which were monotone and heavily censored. In particular, overseas radio stations are able to openly criticise the CCP's policies. In response, Chinese authorities not only used various methods to interfere with the radio signals, but also arrested those who listened to enemy radios. In some cases, the Communist Party would confiscate their radios, discharge them from work, put them under segregation, and have them criticised or make self-denunciations publicly. For more severe punishments, these people would be sent to judicial trials, leading to arrest or imprisonment for many years. Wang Youqin, an overseas scholar, once described a man called Zhuo Xiuteng in his book, The Victims of the Cultural Revolution. During the Cultural Revolution, Zhuo Xiuteng was reported to have been eavesdropping on enemy radios. As a result, his home was raided. He was segregated for investigation and was later beaten to death. Ironically, later, the person who reported him was also segregated. After his release, he ended up homeless and eventually committed suicide. However, even under such harsh and horrific repressions, there were still some people in those days eager to learn about the outside world and reflect on China's issues. Under political pressure, they came to their senses just by listening to enemy radios. In an article published by Voice of America, titled, An Oral History of the Cultural Revolution in the Age of Abstinence, I eavesdropped on enemy radio. The narrator, Li Jinlong, whose father was a member in the Guard Regiment of the Nationalist Army General, had later defected to the Communist Party. During the Cultural Revolution, Li Jinlong's mother was publicly criticised and became insane. His father was known to be a nice person and therefore was not publicly criticised, but did experience humiliations due to his background and lived a life of fear and trepidation. At the age of 14, Li Jinlong went to work in a factory after graduating from primary school. Witnessing the absurdity of what was happening around him, he began to reflect on life. Li Jinlong bought a radio and began secretly listening to foreign radio programs, mainly the VOA and the Radio Moscow. As he listened, he began to accept some truths and new ideas that he had never heard before. Thus, Li Jinlong gained a deeper understanding of Chinese society. He said, In fact, at first, I tuned into these channels unintentionally, and then the more I listened, the more addicted I became, because these radio stations revealed many of the truths that had been covered up and deliberately tampered with. At that time, Li Jinlong lived in a single room in the factory dormitory. He would not dare listen during the day and only secretly listened at night when he crawled under his quilts with headphones on. As a result of listening to these enemy radios, Li Jinlong developed opposing views but did not share them openly. Later, Li Jinlong met several young men from the same family background. They were called the Five Black Categories, which referred to landowners, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements and rightists. They had similar life experiences and shared similar views with him. They often gathered secretly to discuss things, including listening to VOA and other enemy radio. Over time, these young people developed their own independent views on the Communist Party and Mao Zedong. In private, they would call Mao Zedong Old Man Mao, which would be taboo to say in public. When the news of Mao's death was announced on radio, Li Jinlong invited these friends to his dormitory for a drink to celebrate. However, to Li Jinlong's dismay, Chinese people are still living under the same authoritarian system today and still cannot enjoy real freedom. Ah Cheng, writer and author of the novel The Chess King, once wrote an article titled Listening to the Enemy Radios to reminisce about the 1970s. At that time, Ah Cheng was sent to Yunnan province as an intellectual youth. Since Yunnan was far from Beijing, they could not receive clear signals from China National Radio and newspapers never delivered on time, so it was common for them to listen to enemy radios such as the VOA, Radio Taiwan and Radio Hong Kong. By listening to these enemy radios, they learned about the defection and death of General Lin Biao, who was the vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, and heard sensitive news such as the 1976 Tiananmen incident, where people gathered peacefully to protest against the Gang of Four. Ah Cheng wrote, I heard about the Lin Biao incident in 1971 almost on the same day as it was broadcast from foreign countries, which was an important event of the 1970s. The glorious image of Mao Zedong collapsed instantly in our heart. The brainwashing started from Mao waving his hand on Tiananmen Tower on August 18, 1966. Actually, it started from Liu Shaoqi proposing the concept of Mao Zedong Thought. Until now, the brainwashing has ended. Apart from listening to political news, they mainly listened to entertainment broadcasts such as series of radio stories, Deng Lijun songs etc. So, what was the result of listening to enemy radios? According to Ah Cheng, the more you listen, the more you think about it. When you have more to think about, you'll see the world differently. When you see the world differently, you'll feel uneasy and gloomy. In 1976, when senior communist officials Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong both died, the Yunnan intellectual youth drank happily and played guitars to celebrate. Ah Cheng wrote, at that moment my heart cleared up. Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy activist who participated in the Democracy Wall movement in Xidong, Beijing in 1978, was sentenced twice for counter-revolutionary crimes in 1979 and 1993, spending 18 years in prison and then going into exile in the United States in 1997. In an interview with Voice of America, he revealed that he had also listened to enemy radio Voice of America in China. In 1966, when the Cultural Revolution broke out, Wei heard that there was a radio station called Voice of America that was different from what the Chinese communist newspapers were saying on topics such as the purpose of Mao's Cultural Revolution. Wei managed to listen to it at home, but his mother found out and strongly opposed it. One day in September 1971, Wei Jingsheng, who was serving in the Chinese communist army, heard from Voice of America that a Chinese specialised aircraft had crashed in Mongolia. He quickly guessed that something might have happened to Lin Biao. We had a small counter-revolutionary group when we were in the army, Wei said. After the Lin Biao incident, people thought it was so weird and sent many of them thinking. Why? Something doesn't add up in the communist party. How could this happen? How could their close comrades get killed? Who is their successor? So we, the counter-revolutionaries, started talking within the army and formed small groups. At that time, people talked about what was said on Voice of America. You would feel embarrassed if you didn't know about it. They all thought it was a very important source of information. It was a compliment to freedom of speech. People wanted to hear different voices from different sources. Wei Jingsheng also mentioned that quite a lot of people from all sectors of society eavesdropped on enemy radios. I found that those who had doubts about reality wanted to know more and were not satisfied with what was in the people's daily. Eavesdropping on enemy radios became a very important source of information for them. No one knows how many people secretly listened to news from the outside world at those times, or how many people developed different views from it. Yang Guosong, a Chinese Communist Party historian once said, gradually, whether or not one listens to the Voice of America became a major political issue that determines if one is patriotic or not. An even important dividing line between revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries. Amazingly, the listening of enemy radios did not disappear at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Some senior communist officials also tune in to seek information when they are in trouble. For example, Zhao Ziyang, a former General Secretary of the Communist Party, was removed from office and placed under house arrest in 1989 for supporting the students. He listened to Voice of America Chinese broadcasts almost daily. His daughter Wang Yanan recalls, there was a special program that talks about current affairs in China. I remember my father will always, at a certain time of the day, bend over and listen to the radio, almost up to his ear. In fact, by listening to these overseas radios, my father was trying to find out what was going on in the world and what was really happening in China. In addition, Li Peng, former Premier of the Chinese Communist Party, and Cheng Xitong, former Mayor of Beijing, were also once listeners of Voice of America. Wei Jingxuan said, I know that some senior leaders would also listen to radios of foreign countries openly, as they knew listening to both sides would lead to greater understanding. Especially those who were not happy with the regime, those in the highest levels, even in the Politburo Standing Committee. They knew whatever information they were given by the Communist Party were not entirely true. Thus, when the time was up, their secretaries or guards would help tune the radio and remind them that Voice of America was about to broadcast. There is no doubt that anyone listening to enemy radios conveys a signal of distrust of the CCP's official propaganda. The existence of enemy radios has enabled many Chinese to find out the truth during dark times, and as a result, they have learnt to think and reflect independently. Some Chinese people have truly understood the situation, but many others are still being deceived today. Fortunately, an increasing number of Chinese are eager to learn about the outside world, and have started listening to or watching news or videos from outside China by climbing over the Great Firewall. They have gradually been exposed to many facts that are quite different from Chinese propaganda. Many people have made a wise choice to abandon the CCP. Up to now, more than 400 million Chinese people have quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliate organisations, which is a huge milestone that brings hope for the future. That's it for today's show. If you like our program, please like, subscribe and share our channel with your friends. Thank you and see you next time.