Congressman
Royce Calls for Vigorous Protests of Vietnam's Jamming of Radio Free Asia
Broadcasts
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 29, 2008
Audra McGeorge (202) 225-4111
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA-40), a senior member of the House
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, released the text of a letter sent to the
State Department requesting United States officials to vigorously protest
Vietnamese jamming of U.S.-backed Radio Free Asia (RFA) broadcasts. The letter
comes on the eve of Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill's planned
visit to Vietnam.
"Since day one of RFA's broadcasts into Vietnam, Hanoi has jammed them. RFA
must employ multiple frequencies to overcome this interference. I wonder what
news the communist government is afraid of," asked Royce.
Radio Free Asia is a "surrogate" broadcasting service, acting as a free press
for Vietnam, bringing accurate news and information. During a recent
Congressional hearing, Royce brought the issue of Vietnamese jamming to the
attention of a top State Department official, who committed to raising it with
the Vietnamese government.
"We should be protesting loudly against this hostile assault on RFA's
broadcasts. This can not continue to go unchallenged," commented Royce after
the letter's release.
Below is the full text of Rep. Ed Royce's letter:
February 27, 2008
The Honorable Christopher R. Hill
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Ambassador Hill:
As you prepare to travel to Vietnam, I am writing to express my concern
regarding the command over the media that the Vietnamese government exercises
and U.S. efforts to counter that command.
Newspapers, television and radio stations are under strict government control.
As longtime dissident Dr. Nguyen Dan Que correctly stated, "The state hopes to
cling to power by brain-washing the Vietnamese people through stringent
censorship and through its absolutist control over what information the public
can receive."
To combat this censorship, I have been supportive of Radio Free Asia's
broadcasts to Vietnam. As you know, Radio Free Asia is a "surrogate"
broadcasting service, acting as a free press for Vietnamese. Unfortunately,
Vietnam has a history of heavily jamming RFA, beginning on the first day of its
broadcasts in February, 1997. In order to overcome this jamming, RFA employs six
times the frequencies than it does for non-jamming countries. While still
effective, I regret the fact that additional resources must be put to use.
I think you will agree that we should not let Vietnamese government interference
with such accurate news and information go unchallenged. If relations between
our two countries are truly improving, as the Administration states, this should
not be an issue. Yet, to my knowledge, no official complaint has been lodged
with the Vietnamese government over its hostile assault on RFA's broadcasts.
During a recent hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on
International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, Deputy Assistant
Secretary Scot Marciel committed to looking into this issue and to raising it
with Vietnamese officials during future trips to the region. Any information
you can provide me in this respect upon your return from Vietnam would be most
appreciated.
--------------------------
Sent from Young Kim's BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
Office of Representative Ed Royce
714-458-3392, cell