Appendix I
Excerpts from "Communist Clandestine Broadcasting," a Foreign Affairs Note issued by the U.S. State Department in December 1982
First monitored in early 1979, Radio Ba Yi purports to speak for the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The station takes its name from the Chinese words "Eight One," or August First, the traditional date of the founding of the Chinese Red Army in 1927. In contrast to official Soviet broadcasts to China, such as Radio Moscow's Mandarin-language programs or those of the semi-official Radio Peace and Progress, Radio Ba Yi claims to reflect the perspective of "our army" or "our country's representatives" and strives to identify with the Chinese cadre point of view.
The radio has never acknowledged a sponsor, Soviet or Chinese, and the Soviet media have conspicuously ignored it. Nevertheless, Radio Ba Yi's Soviet sponsorships clear. Technical observations indicate that the transmitter is located in the Soviet Far East. Moreover, while Radio Ba Yi has its own style, the views expressed always are complementary to, if not identical with, established Soviet positions. Its broadcasts began at a sensitive time in Sino-Soviet relations - in the wake of China's attack on Vietnam and just before Beijing's long-expected announcement of on April 3, 1979, that it would terminate the 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance. its establishment also coincided with the period of U.S.-Chinese political rapprochement, which Moscow regarded with suspicion.
Radio Ba Yi devotes much attention to "bread and butter" issue of cadre policy, especially to Beijing's efforts to retire less productive cadre and to transfer others. The propaganda line plays on older cadre's fears of changes that threaten reductions in their economic and political influence and, especially, of changes that portend a loss of their position in society. By developing the cadre policy theme, Radio Ba Yi apparently hopes to heighten dissatisfaction with policies associated with Deng Xiaoping.
Radio Ba Yi's commentaries have condemned Deng for usurping power, violating the principles of collective leadership, damaging the army by transferring military leaders for his own selfish ends, and selling out China's national interests to the United States and Japan. (Other Chinese leaders also have been the subject of sharp, but less frequent, criticism.) For example, a January 14, 1980, commentary following U.S. Defense Harold Brown's visit to China declared that Sino-U.S. relations had embarked on a path that encroached on Chinese sovereignty, damaged national pride, and threatened national security. It accused Deng of deciding "all by himself" to allow the United States to install and operate, with U.S. intelligence personnel, an electronic "spy network" that would allow the United States to collect "secret intelligence" on China's economy and national defense. The people who agreed to such demands, the commentary concluded, if they did not deliberately wish to turn China into a U.S. military base, were "suffering from senile decay."
Radio Ba Yi declines to provide detailed commentary on the U.S.S.R. but has, on occasion, advocated improved Sino-Soviet relations and greater receptivity to Soviet initiatives. Reporting on the Sino-Soviet talks of the previous fall, a January 9, 1980, commentary emphasized that Soviet suggestions for restoring relations "to the level of the early 1950s" were worthy of consideration: If "the new central leaders" opposing improved relations take into account China's long-term interests, "the deadlock in Sino-Soviet negotiations can be broken." An August 1, 1980, broadcast made a similar point: Certain people in authority, it suggested, ought to seriously examine Chinese foreign policy, which has turned armies that once fought shoulder to shoulder with us into our enemies.
On other foreign policy issues, Radio Ba Yi has criticized the leadership's "betrayal" of China's interest in Taiwan, warned against its alleged encouragement of Japanese militarism, and derided Chinese policy in South and Southeast Asia. Despite the impact of Moscow's invasion of Afghanistan on Sino-Soviet relations, Radio Ba Yi has given little attention to Chinese policy reactions.
Criticism is the only consistent element in Radio Ba Yi's diverse commentary on the Chinese domestic scene. The lack of political democracy, poor management of the economy, the leadership's alleged worship of Western and Japanese lifestyle, and errors in handling government-army and army-civilian relations are regularly denounced.
Following the mid-September 1982 moratorium on Soviet propaganda attacks on China and the announcement of Sino-Soviet talks in Beijing, Radio Ba Yi has continued to criticize Chinese policies but has avoided condemning leaders by name. The radio's failure to halt attacks against China is consistent with the past practice of avoiding the appearance of close coordination with official Soviet media. Nevertheless, it continues to make Deng Xiaoping a primary target of criticism.
Appendix II
Chronology of Chinese Clandestine Stations
!966 -- The Cultural Revolution starts.
Dec. -- Spark, Voice of the Liberation Army first noted.
1968
Feb. 26 -- Chinese Communist Party Broadcasting Station first intercepted.
Oct. 26 -- Liberation Army Activists Fighter Battle Corps Broadcasting Station first noted.
Dec. 3 -- Contingent of Proletarian Fighters first monitored.
1969
March 2 -- Chinese and Soviet troops clash at the border.
April -- The Chinese Communist Party's ninth congress adopts a new party charter designating Lin Biao as the eventual successor to Mao.
1970
April 11 -- True Representative of Proletariat Broadcasting Station first noted.
July 2 -- Station with only Chinese classical operas comes on the air.
1971
April -- Chinese Communist Party Broadcasting Station vanishes.
Liberation Army Activists Fighter Battle Corps Broadcasting Station disappears.
May -- .Contingent of Proletarian Fighters renames itself as Fighters.
July 16 -- U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his plan to visit China.
Sept. -- Chinese classical opera station disappears.
Sept. 11 -- Red Flag Broadcasting Station first monitored.
Sept. 13 -- Lin dies in an airplane crash in Mongolia while trying to escape to the Soviet Union after failing in an alleged coup against Mao.
Sept. 26 -- Music and News Station first observed.
1972
Feb. 21-28 -- Nixon visits China.
March 23 -- Red Army Broadcasting Station first intercepted.
May -- News and Music Station vanishes.
1973
March -- Deng rehabilitated as vice premier.
1974
Jan.-- The anit-Lin, anti-Confucius Movements start.
April -- Voice of the Liberation Army, Spark, Fighters reorganized. Spark renames itself as Radio Spark, while Fighters restores its original name of Contingent of Proletarian Fighters.
May 1 -- Phony Central People's Broadcasting Station first intercepted.
1976
Jan. 8 -- Premier Zhou Enlai dies, Hua Guofeng succeeds him..
April -- Deng sacked again.
Sept. 9 -- Mao dies, Hua succeeds him.
Oct. 6 -- The Gang of Four arrested.
1977
May 6 -- Deng reinstated as vice premier.
Aug. -- The Cultural Revolution was officially declared over at the 11th party congress.
1978 -- October Storm Broadcasting Station appears.
1979
Feb. 17- March 15 -- Sino-Vietnamese War.
March 3 -- Radio 8.1 first monitored.
May -- Voice of the Chinese People first noted.
1984
March 19 -- Contingent of Proletarian Fighters last noted.
1985
June -- Radio Spark becomes inactive.
1986
Nov. 29 -- Red Flag Broadcasting Station last monitored.
Dec. 2 - Radio 8.1 last noted.
1989
June 4 -- The Tiananmen incident
Voice of the Liberation Army, October Storm Broadcasting Station, Phony Central People's Broadcasting Station, Voice of the Chinese cease their operations.
July -- Democracy Broadcasting Station first noted.
1990
Aug. -- Voice of Democracy Broadcasting Station first monitored.
1991 -- Democracy Broadcasting Station, Voice of Democracy Broadcasting Station vanish.
Appendix III
Frequency List used by Chinese Clandestine Stations
kHz Station Names Years they appeared
995 Red Flag Broadcasting Station 1971-1986
1235 Voice of the Chinese People 1979-1989
5000 Phony CPBS 1977-1982
5010 Phony CPBS
5020 Phony CPBS 1976-1981
5050 Phony CPBS 1980-1981
5060 Phony CPBS 1978-1980
5200 Phony CPBS 1979-1981
5300 Phony CPBS
5710 Phony CPBS
5945 Phony CPBS 1981
6000 Phony CPBS 1974-1981
6015 Phony CPBS 1975-1980
6050 Phony CPBS 1981
6070 News and Music Station 1971-1972
6085 Chinese Communist Party Broadcasting Station 1968-1971
6190 Liberation Army Activist Battle Corps B.S. 1968
6900 Phony CPBS 1981-1982
6990 Phony CPBS 1980-1981
7085 Chinese classical opera station 1971
7105 Liberation Army Activist Battle Corps B.S. 1970
7125 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1975
Democracy Broadcasting Station 1989-1991
7155 News and Music Station 1971-1972
7165 Spark 1967-1972
Radio Spark 1974-1975
Voice of the Liberation Army 1967-1975
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1977-1975
7170 Radio Spark 1977-1983
Voice of the Liberation Army 1977-1983
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1977-1983
7175 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1972
October Storm Broadcasting Station 1978
7185 Spark 1967-1972
Radio Spark 1983-1984
Red Army Broadcasting Station 1972-1976
Voice of the Liberation Army 1967-1972 , 1983-1989
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1983-1984
October Storm Broadcasting Station 1983-1984
Phony CPBS 1983-1984
7190 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1974
7200 Phony CPBS 1981
7210 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1974-1975
7215 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1975
7245 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1972
7260 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1975
7275 Radio Spark
7280 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1972
7285 Voice of the Liberation Army 1967-1972, 1977-1983
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1972-1983
Radio Spark 1974-1983
Red Army Broadcasting Station
7290 Voice of the Liberation Army 1974
Radio Spark 1977
Phony CPBS 1981-1982
7300 Phony CPBS 1975
Red Army Broadcasting Station 1974-1975
7305 True Representative of Proletariat B.S. 1970
7500 Phony CPBS
7520 Radio Spark 1975
Voice of the Liberation Army 1975
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1975
7525 Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1968-1984
Radio Spark 1975-1984
Voice of the Liberation Army 1974-1984
October Storm Broadcasting Station 1983-1984
Phony CPBS 1974-1989
8057 Voice of Democracy Broadcasting Station 1990-1991
9000 Phony CPBS 1982
9150 Phony CPBS 1982
9200 Phony CPBS 1976
9267 Phony CPBS 1984
Radio Spark 1983-1984
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1983-1984
Voice of the Liberation Army 1983-1984
October Storm Broadcasting Station 1984-1989
9510 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1975
9530 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1974-1975
9570 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1972
News and Music Station 1971-1972
9600 Spark 1967-1972
Red Army Broadcasting Station 1972
Voice of the Liberation Army 1971-1974
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1974
9640 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1973-1974
9656 October Broadcasting Station 1979
9660 Voice of the Liberation Army 1967-1971, 1983-1984
Radio Spark 1984-1985
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1983-1984
October Storm Broadcasting Station 1983-1984
9674 October Storm Broadcasting Station 1979
9705 Fighters 1974
Red Army Broadcasting Station 1975
9715 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1973
Contingent of Proletarian Fighters 1974
October Storm Broadcasting Station 1979
11280 Chinese classical music station 1971
11320 Chinese Communist Party Broadcasting Station 1970-1971
11725 Voice of the Liberation Army 1971
11735 Chinese classical music station 1971
11795 Voice of the Liberation Army 1967-1972
12120 Radio Ba Yi 1979-1986
15050 Red Army Broadcasting Station 1974
15055 Voice of the Liberation Army 1969-1972
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