by Alp Uyghur, Oct 30, 2025
WASHINGTON | October 29, 2025 — Radio Free Asia (RFA) Executive Editor Rosa Hwang announced a complete pause in RFA operations following U.S. federal funding cuts, temporarily closing all language services, including the Uyghur Service — the world’s only independent Uyghur-language news outlet.
In a statement, Hwang highlighted the Uyghur Service’s vital role in exposing mass repression in China:
“When RFA Uyghur journalists first exposed the violent repression and mass detainment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China harassed and arrested their family members. Still, our journalists bravely continued the work of uncovering atrocities. With the world’s only independent Uyghur-language news service shuttered, China’s propaganda will fester without a potent and effective accountability check.”
RFA’s official statement said the pause aims to preserve resources during the funding lapse, including ending leases of overseas offices in Dharamsala, Taipei, Seoul, Istanbul, Bangkok, and Yangon. It also noted RFA’s historic reporting on the Uyghur genocide, COVID-19 cover-up, the Myanmar crisis, Tibetan hydropower projects, and North Korean defectors, describing it as a public record of transparency “in some of the world’s most repressive places.”
Coverage of RFA’s suspension appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and RFA’s own announcement.
Sources: RFA statement, The New York Times, The Washington Post.
