Wei
Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A860-W553
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号： A860-W553
Release
Date: February 11, 2015
发布日：2015年2月11日
Topic:
Wei Jingsheng interviewed by the VOA program
"History's Mysteries: Those Who Listen in the Dark" (video and
transcripts in English and Chinese)
标题：美国之音‘解密时刻：偷听"敌台"’节目，魏京生应邀接受采访（录像及中英文字幕内容）
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Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)
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Wei Jingsheng interviewed by the VOA program "History's Mysteries: Those Who Listen in the Dark" (video and transcripts in English and Chinese)
On February 6, 2015, Voice of America presented both English and Chinese version of its 50 minutes long program: "History's Mysteries: Those Who Listen in the Dark." The program started with Chinese democratic leader Wei Jingsheng and followed by several others as witnesses to tell the history and importance of Voice of America broadcasting to people who do not have the rights to free information and free expression under a totalitarian regime, especially China.
For the original interview video and related transcripts both in English and Chinese, please visit:
http://www.voachinese.com/content/history-mystery-radio-listening-20150205/2630577.html
The video is also available at:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/interviews/interviews2015/WeiJSinterview1502listeningVOA.mp4 or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtksOyAqkN0
The following is the transcript of this program.
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History's Mysteries: Those Who Listen
in the Dark
-- by Voice of America
Introduction
WEI JINGSHENG:
Starting at that time, at home in secret, I would turn on the radio and slowly turn the dial, slowly, slowly, -- found it!
HARRY WU:
When the Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army took Shanghai, my father listened to that station every day, with the volume down very low.
WEI JINGSHENG:
My mother quickly found out. "Don't listen to this. Absolutely no listening!"
HARRY WU:
"Don't talk about it. Don't tell anybody! Or you'll get your head cut off."
SASHA GONG:
It meant prison. Prison for certain.
HARRY WU:
Later I found out: he was listening to the Voice of America.
SASHA GONG:
There was always, "Welcome to the Voice of America in Mandarin. (singing Yankee Doodle)"
Those Who Listen in the Dark
Dedicated to the Voice of America's
listeners and viewers, since 1942
__ __ __
A different version of reality
One day in September of 1971, while serving in the People's Liberation Army, Wei Jingsheng was alarmed by a Voice of America broadcast.
WEI JINGSHENG:
First they said a Chinese chartered jet had crashed in Mongolia. This had to be a plane for a top leader - who else could charter a plane? So it could only be Chairman Mao, Lin Biao, or Premier Zhou Enlai.
About WEI JINGSHENG:
1978: Posted Democracy Wall manifesto in central Beijing.
1979, 1993: Twice convicted of "counterrevolutionary crimes." 18 years in prison.
1997: Exiled to the United States. ?
WEI JINGSHENG:
As for Premier Zhou, obviously he was still in the papers every day. One thing about the Chinese - everybody always looks at the newspapers to see who is mentioned and who is not. Zhou Enlai still appeared, but not Lin Biao. We guessed it: Lin Biao.
Deng Pufang, then in Jiangxi Province, heard from the "enemy radio" that Lin Biao's plane had crashed. He immediately told his father Deng Xiaoping, who because of political difficulties was at that time "working" in a tractor component factory in Xinjian County. As Deng Xiaoping's daughter Deng Rong later wrote in a memoir of her father, Deng Xiaoping followed his longstanding practice and said not a word.
CHEN YIZI:
What impressed me most deeply was that at the time of the Lin Biao incident, VOA reported that an extraordinary event must have occurred in China. During the power struggle at Lushan, they said, all the planes in China had been grounded for nearly a week. But now no plane had flown for half a month. Something very big must have happened. The day after we heard this, we sent a friend to find out, and when he got back in two days he told us: Lin Biao died in the crash.
The author Zhong Acheng was at this time a "sent-down youth" working for the Yunnan Production and Construction Corps. In the essay "Listening to Enemy Radio," he wrote:
"The Lin Biao incident of 1971 was reported almost the same day by foreign broadcasters. It was a key event of the decade. The myth of Mao Zedong instantly collapsed. What had begun with a wave of Mao's hand at the rally of August 18, 1966 at Tiananmen Square-no, earlier, when Liu Shaoqi first proclaimed 'Mao Zedong Thought'-that long hypnosis had now at this moment, come to an end."
The late Chen Ziming, a scholar of politics officially named a "black hand" of the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement, wrote:
"In the 70s, Voice of America became a main source of information for young people in China. After the Lin Biao incident, listening to 'enemy radio' became very widespread, because people felt official channels were not providing genuine information."
WEI JINGSHENG:
When I was in the army we had a small counterrevolutionary organization. When we heard about Lin Biao, we all thought that was very strange; many people felt there was something wrong with the Communist Party. For how could Mao's close friend and comrade-in-arms, his designated successor, be done down like that? At this, those of us who were originally against the revolution began to contact each other inside the military, and quickly formed a few small groups, based on our hometowns. People would get together and say "Voice of America said" this or that-and if you didn't know about it, you'd be embarrassed. Once people were in the loop, they felt that VOA was a crucial source of information. It helped to make up for the limits on free expression. Everybody wanted a variety of sources, a variety of voices.
In 1966, Mao Zedong initiated the "Great Cultural Revolution." Controls over Chinese political institutions, society and information became even more extreme. But extremes can provoke reactions, and the stifling political atmosphere led many young people to seek other voices, for balance.
WEI JINGSHENG:
I think it was the end of 1966, November. From that time on people were saying: there is a radio station, Voice of America, and what they say is very different from what the newspapers say.
For example, after Mao arranged the downfall of Liu Shaoqi, Voice of America was saying something very different from the newspapers. They said Mao's goal for the Cultural Revolution wasn't any revolution in culture. It was for the power struggle, to do away with his political opponents. Well! When we heard this new idea, it seemed to fit, since so many people's fathers had started losing their positions, one after another. And after all, what was the problem with Liu Shaoqi anyway? Was it real, was it fake? After we started hearing different voices, people started having different views.
__ __ __
Listening very quietly late at night
In December 1968, Mao Zedong started sending teen-aged students from cities to the countryside. One of these "sent-down youth" was Ren Yi, a senior in a Nanjing model high school.
REN YI (Nanjing sent-down youth):
Before I was sent down to the countryside, there was a very good student in my class. Of the 48 students in the class, he was one of the only two not sent down. That's because he had a disability- he had a hunchback; that's why he wasn't sent down. But this classmate of ours had a special skill: he made transistor radios. He made radios for several of us who were closest to him. In those days, buying a transistor radio cost over 10 yuan. 10 yuan was an astronomical sum. But he made one transistor radio for each of us. There was a special purpose: it was just for listening to VOA!
Chen Yizi was an undergraduate at Peking University in 1965, when he wrote a 30,000 character letter to Mao Zedong, charging the Party and the nation with being undemocratic. He was labeled a counterrevolutionary.
CHEN YIZI (former Director of the Chinese Institute for Reform of the Economic Structure):
In 1969 I arrived in the countryside. Because I was originally a physics student, I made an eight-tube transistor radio, and the result was that we could listen to the Voice of America. So we were thrilled. Starting in early 1970, we listened to Voice of America every evening.
GAO HONGMING (a youth "sent down" to work on a farm run by the Heilongjiang Production and Construction Corps):
That evening, you see, I took that radio and huddled under my quilt. I wanted to listen. But the others weren't asleep so I was afraid to listen. I hardly dared breathe, and my forehead was covered with sweat, as I slowly, slowly turned the dial.
SASHA GONG:
The first time I really listened to the Voice of America was in 1971; it was before the Lin Biao incident.
About Sasha Gong
1977: Implicated in the "Li Yizhe" counterrevolutionary clique; one year in prison.
1995: Received a Doctorate in Sociology from Harvard University.
SASHA GONG:
My brother was one year younger than I, and he loved radios. From the age of 12 or 13 he was building radios. At that time I had just a single earphone, to go inside the ear. I remember so clearly: in the evening I would push it in with my finger - I could hear the broadcast only very late at night. That time, the first time I heard the Voice of America, the interference was pretty bad. Still - every time I listened, I could pick up some really new and interesting things.
A Voice of America listener wrote in to say: "In those black years, I kept my shortwave radio wrapped in a dark cloth under my bed. Only very late at night when everyone was asleep did I dare to take it out, put in my earphone and quietly listen."
For the people who lived through those times, this is a collective memory.
__ __ __
"I'd rather listen to this than
eat."
REN YI:
So after we got to the countryside, to speak frankly, among the "sent-down youth," listening to the Voice of America was very widespread, very widespread. Everybody listened. Because no other news was coming over. You could only get news from the Voice of America. For example, when the Apollo mission went up, we heard about it from Voice of America. Hearing that Apollo went up, that was really stunning. They visited the moon! And here we were, faces to the ground, backs to the sky, pushing the dirt stroke by stroke.
In those locked-down years, the sound of the "enemy radio" pushing through the static was a real mind-opener.
WEI JINGSHENG:
Oh, I felt that listening was very exciting. Goodness! Everything it said was new and different. Is there a different viewpoint on this story? For us young people that was very important. Listen just once and you became an addict, you just had to hear more. And in that environment, that tightly sealed environment, people all felt that way. Even if it meant missing a meal, they wanted to listen.
SASHA GONG:
Back when I was working in a factory, in the city of Guangzhou, we could hear it very well down by the river. The city itself was chaotic and noisy, but the riverside was open land. A bunch of us would get together to listen. We had a wireless radio this big. Several of us, very good friends, were later labeled together as counterrevolutionaries."
Lu Wen, a "sent-down youth" in Jiangsu Province in those years, recalled his secret listening:
"This kind of empty consolation coming over the airwaves was like an anaesthetic, helping us get through these most difficult times in our lives. It also made me understand that two thirds of the people in the world did not want us to liberate them, and the idea of planting the red flag everywhere in the world was just wishful thinking by the Great Leader. And it made me understand that the people in Taiwan were not living in miserable circumstances at all; that the illness people had in 1960 was an effect of the famine; and that being "sent down" was just another kind of forced labor ..."
Ruan Ming, former Vice Chair of the Central Party School's Office of Theory Study, was also a VOA listener in those years.
RUAN MING:
I started listening to the Voice of America very early on. But I didn't listen very regularly. I listened once in a while. I started listening regularly after I got to the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. I went there from Beijing in 1969, when the Central Propaganda Department was disbanded during the Cultural Revolution. In Ningxia one could hear the VOA broadcast very clearly.
WEI JINGSHENG:
In all walks of life, many people secretly listened to enemy radio. I found that people who knew something and had doubts about what was happening-many people-they wanted to hear more news. They needed something more than the People's Daily and that sort of thing. At this time, secretly listening to the enemy radio became an extremely important source of news.
__ __ __
"Felt like an old friend."
On July 12, 1976, President Gerald Ford signed the VOA Charter. The Charter's first article explicitly required:
"The Voice of America will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. Voice of America news will be accurate, objective, and comprehensive."
"The news may be good or bad. We shall tell you the truth."
CHEN YIZI:
Many very important events, and ideas about some very important things, were illuminated for us by the Voice of America.
In the 1980s, Chen Yizi was Director of the Chinese Institute for Reform of the Economic Structure. He was an adviser to two Communist Party chiefs: Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. After the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, he was forced into exile, and died abroad. But during his lifetime he never forgot that the starting point of the reforms was the days of secret listening to the Voice of America.
CHEN YIZI:
So the last time I saw retired VOA reporter Zhou Youkang at Princeton I smiled and said to him, "You were my first real teacher."
SASHA GONG:
The kind of political power in China, this kind of autocratic power, in the time of Mao Zedong-and this is very important-one thing they accomplished extremely well is that they were able to divorce the value system completely from basic human common sense. That is to say, even what you understand quite well, they could tell you it's not true.
I saw my father and mother denounced, humiliated, and beaten in the "Cultural Revolution." My grandfather spent four years in prison. I knew who they were, I knew in my heart what kind of people they were. But society tells you that you cannot trust that sort of thing; you must trust the Party.
So people like me were always in turmoil inside. And then news came from outside that made us feel we could once again trust our own personal experiences. What we experienced was pain. When the outside says that being beaten is painful, and you say it is indeed painful, but the Communist Party says the beating is not painful, it is only parental love - then you know that what the Party says is wrong.
Listening to Voice of America at a time like this, you discover that outside there is a whole world, a very big world, and what the world says agrees with your own feelings. That is extremely important.
Voice of America feels like a friend who understands you.
__ __ __
Secretly Listening to Voice of America is Counterrevolutionary
However, since 1949, when the Communist Party took power, listening to the Voice of America could have grave consequences.
Harry Wu lived in Shanghai at that time. His father was a banker.
HARRY WU:
Starting in 1949, when I was 12 years old, the Communist Party and its army occupied Shanghai. Now that we were in the New China, my father would listen to that station every day with the volume down low. I was too little to understand, but now I know that he was listening to the Voice of America.
About Harry Wu:
1957: Labeled a "Rightist."
1960: Sentenced to life in prison. Served 19 years in labor camp.
1979: Emigrated to the United States.
HARRY WU:
At that time there were two radio stations-the Taiwan station Voice of Free China, and the Voice of America. If you listened to one of these stations, that was "listening to enemy radio" - a serious crime.
On October 10, 1950, two days after China decided to send troops into Korea, the Central Committee issued its Directive on Suppressing the Activities of Counterrevolutionaries.
HARRY WU:
As we now know, this Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries probably killed about a million people. Mao Zedong himself said he had seven hundred thousand people killed, so-called counterrevolutionaries. At that time people were shot to death in public. People were tried publicly in stadiums or in theaters, and then taken out and shot right away. Posters and loudspeakers announced it. Usually it was a few days before a major holiday such as the Chinese New Year, the National Day, or International Labor Day.
In the tense political atmosphere of 1952, 15-year-old Harry Wu felt uneasy.
HARRY WU:
When 1952 arrived, and I thought how many people had been shot to death in 1951, at that time there was a crime called "secretly listening to enemy radio." So I said to my father that he should not listen any more. He said, "Child, don't concern yourself about this." But sometimes when I went to my parents' room I saw that he was cautiously, quietly listening to this station.
Sometimes when my father was listening, I would join him. He saw me as a high school student, already grown, so he listened with me; but again and again, every time, he said to me, "Don't talk about it! Don't tell anybody! Or you'll get your head cut off."
SASHA GONG:
At that time many people were sentenced for listening to reactionary broadcasts. As we grew up during the Cultural Revolution and saw the struggle meetings against people around us, there was commonly a charge that said, "secretly listening to the reactionary enemy radio," or "secretly listening to VOA," and so on and so on. So people were very much afraid of listening themselves, but also very curious.
WEI JINGSHENG:
My mother quickly found out. On the spot she gave me a stern warning: "Beware of this! Don't listen to this. Absolutely no listening!"
Such a stern warning was not without reason. In those years many Chinese people paid a heavy price for listening to VOA.
WEI JINGSHENG:
This is a counterrevolutionary activity. You could be imprisoned or shot.
SASHA GONG:
I had a co-worker in 1974, I remember very clearly. His name was Mei Yushen. He was one year older than me, born in 1955, so in '74 he was 19. He really liked listening to the reactionary broadcasts, but we never listened together. He was a very quiet person. He listened in the factory. The upshot was that one time after listening to the Voice of America he wrote them a letter; and the same for the Taiwan broadcast. The letters were intercepted. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. This is something we remember very clearly. There was no other charge. The charge was secretly listening to reactionary radio, and then writing letters to the enemy radio stations.
In the Communist Party's many political campaigns over the years, "secret listening to enemy radio" was always a major offense. If you were caught, at the least you would lose your radio and your job. You could be interrogated in isolation, you could be forced to denounce yourself and be denounced by your neighbors, and be labeled a "bad element." Worse, you could be sent to prison.
HARRY WU:
If they caught you listening to the enemy radio, first they might ask you, how many times have you listened? Which station? Taiwan or Voice of America? Which VOA frequency? On what dates exactly? Then they would ask, who did you discuss it with? Your wife? Your son? Your neighbor? What is your neighbor's name? Then they would bring your neighbor as a witness. About whether you engaged in any activities, whether you organized a small group, a small faction, something counterrevolutionary. If you listened to the enemy radio and then organized any kind of counterrevolutionary activity, the Communist Party would certainly add that to your charges.
__ __ __
The grave consequences of secret
listening
Secret listening to "enemy radio" could cost you your freedom. It could even cost your life.
REN YI:
The most serious of the charges brought against me was called "long-term listening to enemy radio."
In May 1969, the sent-down-youth Ren Yi wrote a song called "My Home Town."
This song expressed the feelings of all the sent-down youth: longing for home, and deep bewilderment about the present and the future. Within a month the song was being sung by sent-down youth all over China, and it gained the popular title, "The Song of Youth."
REN YI:
This "Song of Youth" kept getting more and more popular. Even before then, ignorant as I was, I knew this was going to be trouble.
One day, the classmate who had made a transistor radio for Ren Yi ran up and said to him, "The enemy radio is playing the 'Song of Youth'!" Ren Yi knew disaster was coming.
REN YI:
Radio Moscow played the song in August. Voice of America played it in October. I was sweating all over my whole body. I knew I was in for it. So I did something: I surrendered myself. After the Voice of America and Radio Moscow had both broadcast my song, I turned myself over to the authorities.
On May 24 (1970), just one year after writing the song, I saw the document sentencing me to death, May 24, by the Nanjing Municipal Military Control Committee, whose full title was the Chinese People's Liberation Army Nanjing Military Control Committee, sentencing Ren Yi to death and to be carried out immediately."
In the end the District Commander, General Xu Shiyou, decided not to carry out the sentence, and Ren Yi kept his life.
Ren Yi was lucky. University of Chicago scholar Wang Youqin, in her book Victims of the Cultural Revolution, wrote of Zuo Shutang, from Shanghai. Because Zuo Shutang "listened to enemy radio," he had his house ransacked and his things taken, was interrogated in isolation, and beaten to death. The person who exposed him was also interrogated in isolation, and after his release wandered homeless and eventually killed himself.
HARRY WU:
It reflects society's culture, its morality, its politics. This is not something you can get rid of by killing a few people. Say someone secretly listens to the enemy radio and I shoot him to death, will there be nobody listening next time? There will still be people listening.
__ __ __
How did VOA come to be labeled a
reactionary organization?
Zhang Yicai, now retired, worked in an appliance factory in Hangzhou. In 2001, Hangzhou police searched his home and found a program schedule sent by the Voice of America.
ZHANG YICAI (retired worker):
Then they asked me, "Do you listen to Voice of America?" I told them, "I often listen to that station. I listened to it before, and I still listen to it today. I have two radios, and listen all the time. The state allows it. And it's not a reactionary organization!"
The Hangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau's Labor Education Supervisory Committee sentenced Zhang Yicai to two years' forced labor. One charge was listening to Voice of America, and contacting its Beijing office by letter and telephone.
ZHANG YICAI:
How could the Voice of America turn into a reactionary organization inside China? Could a reactionary organization set up an office in Beijing?!
Zhang Yicai did not accept his sentence. While in the labor camp, he petitioned the judicial authorities to review his case, but each application he sent disappeared without a trace.
ZHANG YICAI:
I petitioned for an appeal to the provincial level and the city level. They locked away my peititions and they locked away my letters.
After serving his sentence, Zhang Yicai continued to try to have his case reheard. He wrote application after application accusing the Hangzhou Police Department of improper enforcement.
ZHANG YICAI:
I met with every leader in the Public Security Bureau. I was reporting a crime by the police, especially this "reactionary organization" label forced on me. I am an old man-how can I leave this world as a "reactionary"?
Currently, Zhang Yicai continues every day to work on his petitions for appeal.
ZHANG YICAI:
I am absolutely determined to clear this up. Clear my name! As long as I have one breath left in my body I will keep pursuing this.
__ __ __
Origin of the "Enemy Radio"
From Voice of America's first day of operation, several countries saw it as "enemy radio." The first of these were fascist Germany and Japan.
December 7, 1941, Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. soon declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.
Voice of America was founded in 1942. It began with broadcasts to Germany and Japan, in German and Japanese. Japan had forbidden listening to enemy radio broadcasts, and violators could be sentenced by the court to death.
While China fought to resist Japan, VOA's Chinese broadcast supplied valuable news of the outside world.
At that time, America and China were allies against the fascists, and the Communist leader Mao Zedong even said, "The American people are the Chinese people's good friend. The goal our Party is struggling for is to overturn the reactionary Nationalist dictatorship and set up an American-style democratic system."
But before the Communists took full power in 1949, the Party leader Mao Zedong had already decided to join the socialist camp led by the Soviet Union, and to throw in completely with the Soviets. On March 13, 1949, in his summary report to the Seventh Session of the Second Plenum of the Central Committee, he said: "China and the Soviet Union are like brothers. We must stand together in a united front. We are allies."
On August 18, 1949, Mao Zedong wrote a blistering essay for the Xinhua News Agency, titled "Farewell, Leighton Stuart!", attacking America's China policy and the American ambassador, stating, "American imperialism has lost all the credit it once had with the Chinese people."
June 1950,the People's Army of North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and attacked South Korea.The armies of America and China on the Korean Peninsula soon began a bloody combat vast in scope.The blood of hundreds of thousands of American and Chinese soldiers was spilled on the soil of a foreign land.
The United States had become what Chinese officialdom called "the world's most reactionary, most barbarian, most aggressively imperialist nation," and "the greatest enemy of the people of China and the people of the world."
It was now that the Communist Party labeled the Voice of America "enemy radio."
In November and December of 1950, the Xinhua News Agency's Internal Reference Report published a series of articles that said, "The cities of Tianjin, Shanghai, Wuhan, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Changsha, Taiyuan and others, are full of people who are listening to the Voice of America."
These articles also reported, "Ordinary businessmen think Voice of America news is quick and reliable, as it reported early the loss of Seoul and Pyongyang while our papers were slow." Some people were starting to doubt the reports in official media. News from the Voice of America was circulated by word of mouth, and circulated very widely.
On November 20, 1950, the People's Daily and other Party papers started reporting with great fanfare that "people in all walks of life demand a stop to listening to Voice of America," to "end the rumors spread by enemy spies."
Qinghua University Professor Sheng Chenghua wrote an article saying Voice of America was "a nastier weapon than the atomic bomb." Students all over China marched in the streets to warn the masses against the Voice of America.
Yang Kuisong, a historian of the Chinese Communist Party, has written, "Gradually, choosing whether to listen to Voice of America became a major political question of patriotism-even a kind of decision point between being revolutionary and counterrevolutionary."
Listening to the Voice of America became "secret listening" to the Voice of America.
In 1955, China began jamming the Voice of America. The method was to broadcast meaningless noise, or another radio station, on the same frequency.
In the 1960s, the United States fell into a long war in Vietnam. Mao Zedong sent 300,000 troops to "resist America and help Vietnam," and the enmity between China and America grew deeper.
__ __ __
English 900 - Corn Country -
University Dream
In the early 1970s, to counter the Soviet threat, China and America improved their relations.
In 1972, the American President Richard Nixon visited China, and in 1973 the American government established a liaison office in Beijing. The two countries, enemies for 20 years, were now rebuilding lines of communication.
RITA HECHLER (retired reporter for the Voice of America):
"After Nixon returned from China, the head of our Chinese Branch returned from a Foreign Service posting in Taiwan. He said they were using a very good textbook there, and we ought to give it a try."
In 1972, Voice of America began its program English 900.
That year a Beijing youth, the 20-year-old Ping De, enlisted in the People's Liberation Army. His first job was to care for the horses in an army farm outside Beijing. One day a fellow soldier gave him a copy of the book English 900.
PING DE:
Getting hold of this book was very difficult. At this period, in the latter period of the Cultural Revolution, China was gradually re-establishing contact with the rest of the world.
An army friend of mine said that since some of our foreign policy leaders were going abroad to the United Nations, they were able to bring home some copies of English 900, which had the status of a semi-classified document, "internal educational material."
Later people told me that Voice of America had a broadcast that used this English 900 text. So that's how I studied it. I bought a small radio just for this. In those days, at 60 or 70 yuan it was very expensive, a very luxurious piece of home electronics. My work unit was explicitly encouraging everyone to study English, but also explicitly said one must not listen to the enemy radio.
Ping De was well aware that VOA was "enemy radio," but he was hungry to learn. At that time he was living by himself in a horse barn. During the day he dealt with the horses, and at night he listened to English 900. In his words, "I felt I was living like a noble; it was beautiful." Later he was transferred to the electricians' squad. Listening to "enemy radio" in a place with so many people, with eyes everywhere, was very difficult.
PING DE:
What could I do? I burrowed down into my quilt, put in an earphone, and listened to the course. But after all, I still often had to recite it out loud. For if you're studying English, imitation is something you can't do without. In the end I had no choice. It was summer, and in the evenings I just packed up my radio and book, picked up my flashlight, and ran out into the nearby-in summer the nearby field was mainly planted in corn, and the stalks were tall. Once you went into the cornfield, nobody could find you, and you could study with Voice of America.
Ping De recalled,
"One time, when I came out of the cornfield to go back to my dorm, I was tailed for a long time by the night patrol. Maybe he suspected I was dating a female soldier. In fact, the trouble you'd get into from being caught listening to enemy radio would certainly be much worse than being caught on a date with a woman."
PING DE:
We called that sort of thing "making it an issue of politics, of principle" - if you listen to enemy radio, you are or you may very well be an element in contact with the enemy. The punishment would be severe.
PING DE:
Thinking back on it, I studied English 900 for more than half a year. It was not an easy thing to do! Rita Hechler was doing the show, and each time at the end she would say, "This is the Voice of America's English 900 course, with Rita Hechler hosting from Washington."
RITA HECHLER:
To tell the truth, I myself never thought I would be creating a very successful VOA program. For one thing, I think the moment was extremely opportune, and I think I have a good voice for broadcasting. I was very enthusiastic about this program, and I really worked hard on it. I think that's why it was a success. Mainly, I think, it was that at that time, in mainland China, really, ordinary people all wanted to learn English, but unfortunately there were no English teachers.
Thanks to English 900, Ping De could speak excellent American English.
In 1975, the head of his unit gave him a college recommendation, because his English was good and he did his job well. That is how listening to "enemy radio" helped him fulfill his dream of going to college.
__ __ __
Milder Times
In the winter of 1977, China resumed the college entrance examination system, suspended for ten years by the Cultural Revolution. The traditional watchword, "Knowledge changes destiny," became realistic once again, inviting large numbers of young people to study as a means to social respect. And learning English became especially popular. Voice of America's English 900 became a familiar point of reference. One listener, Lu Xin, recalled:
"By the 1980s, the atmosphere had completely changed. Some colleges even put Voice of America programs on their own broadcast systems, and nobody worried about it."
In 1979, the U.S. and the People's Republic established formal relations. After the horrific ten-year "Cultural Revolution," the Chinese people viewed the outside world-especially the West-with great curiosity and hope.
For the new generation of college students, Voice of America's news programs, and programs in Special English, were among the main ways to follow current events and learn English. More and more people made listening to the Voice of America a regular part of their daily lives.
In the 1980s, according to Chinese officials, the Voice of America's listeners in China numbered over 17 million.
Spring 1989,the Tiananmen democracy movement sweeps the country. Zhao Ziyang, General Secretary of the Communist Party visits the fasting students in Tiananmen Square. Because Zhao Ziyang sympathized with the students and opposed the use of armed force to suppress them. He was removed from office, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. During the period of his confinement, Zhao Ziyang listened almost every day to the Voice of America.
WANG YANNAN (daughter of Zhao Ziyang):
VOA has some programs about China. I always remember, at a certain hour of the day, my father would lean over to listen to that tiny radio, almost pressing it against his ear. It was really by this listening to the radio, listening to the foreign reports, that my father tried to follow the world situation and the events unfolding in China.
Among the top leaders of the Party, the government, and the military, Voice of America had more listeners than just Zhao Ziyang. Li Peng's June 4 Diary, published overseas, mentions VOA in over a dozen places, showing that even the hardline Li Peng, Zhao Ziyang's chief opponent, member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Premier of China, was a "loyal" VOA listener.
April 24: In the morning I heard the "Voice of America" say that the students went on strike to protest the police use of violence, to pressure the government to grant democracy and freedom.
May 11: The "Voice of America" broadcast said ... The large demonstration on April 27 marked a turning point in Chinese history.
May 30: The "Voice of America" said China is "conducting a Stalinesque purge of the Party."
-- from Li Peng's June 4 Diary.
The Tiananmen democracy movement of 1989 raised the Voice of America's prestige in China to new heights. The students in Tiananmen Square even set up a loudspeaker broadcasting the Voice of America.
__ __ __
All-out effort to block the Voice of
America
After the June 4 crackdown against the democracy movement, the Chinese government started jamming the Voice of America again, setting up unmarked jamming facilities all over the country, telling the outside world they were relay stations.
WANG YANNAN:
The interference was usually quite powerful. We couldn't hear anything but static. This was really fierce jamming. Fierce control over information. As I now think back on it - how sad it is to have to rely on American or French radio to know what's going on in China!
These jamming stations broadcast sometimes pure noise, and sometimes folk songs with drums, gongs, and shrill pipes. A listener in Sichuan wrote in:
"I use an earphone so the neighbors won't know. But the drums and gongs are deafening! If I listen too long, I get dizzy and see stars. Still, I keep listening."
In September 1994, VOA began television broadcasts in Chinese.
In July 1999, VOA established a Chinese-language web site. The Voice of America had grown from mere radio to a multimedia operation: radio, television, and the Internet.
Just as it jams the radio broadcasts, China now blocks the Voice of America web site. In spite of this, by the turn of the century VOA's Chinese web site was getting 100,000 hits each day, and every week the radio broadcasts were heard in China by 8 to 10 million people.
Today, though the Chinese people have incomparably better sources of information than when the country was sealed off from the outside world, still there has been no loosening of the blockade against Voice of America radio and Internet. And setting up a satellite television dish requires explicit permission from the police.
__ __ __
News that cannot be blocked
Many people in China are still getting reliable news from the outside world through the Voice of America.
Well-known public intellectual Yao Jianfu has said that Chen Xitong, late Mayor of Beijing and member of the Politburo and the State Council, relied on Voice of America for news during his confinement in Qincheng Prison.
YAO JIANFU:
I asked him, "How do you know that the outside world is talking about your corruption case?" He said, "They allow a radio here." He was listening to the Voice of America. So from the Voice of America, in prison, he heard all sorts of news. I said, "That's amazing! VOA is still giving you that much information!" So in this regard I think one must not underestimate VOA's function. As far as he was concerned, it was like, aside from the People's Daily, the Voice of America was where he got his information about everything.
WEI JINGSHENG:
I know that some high leaders-especially those who are somewhat out of favor-even leaders at the highest levels such as the members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the information they get from the Communist Party is not always completely true. So they listen to Voice of America too. "Listen to everyone," as the saying goes. They listen openly. Their secretaries or bodyguards find the station for them and tell them, "Sir, the program is about to start," and so on. They do this openly. Recently, after I came to America, a friend visiting from China said to me, "The highest leaders now all listen to Voice of America."
China's famous blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng was released from prison on September 9, 2010, five years after his arrest. But he remained under house arrest, under heavy guard. During this time he listened almost every day to the Voice of America shortwave broadcast.
CHEN GUANGCHENG:
When I first returned home it was impossible to listen, because I didn't have the equipment. A day or two later I fixed up a broken old radio, and with difficulty I could hear some Voice of America reports. But it worked very poorly at that time.
Chen Guangcheng's house arrest drew the attention of the world. Voice of America followed the story closely.
CHEN GUANGCHENG:
Especially on February 11th and 12th (of 2011), I heard reports from Voice of America. At that time it was mainly after 8:00 pm, I remember. And there were also rebroadcasts. At 9:00 they broadcast it again-after 9:00.
REPORTER:
Hearing the Voice of America must have meant a lot to you, at that time?
CHEN GUANGCHENG:
What shall I say-yes, at that time it was my only source of information.
Later, the people overseeing Chen Guangcheng's confinement took away his radio. His only source of information about the outside world was cut off.
In April 2012, Chen Guangcheng, with help from four online friends, eluded the guard of over a hundred people stationed around his village, and entered the American Embassy in Beijing. After negotiations between the two countries, Chen Guangcheng and his wife and children were allowed to leave China for the United States.
WEI JINGSHENG:
Although the Chinese Communist Party no longer has the ability to block outside information as it once could, its blocking power is still pretty formidable. How many people do you think can get around the Great Firewall these days? They say young people can all get past the firewall, but they can't all do that. The fact is that not even one percent of the population can get to the outside internet. The vast majority of people, especially in the countryside, people are poor-people always forget this, but half the population of China is at or below the United Nations poverty line. How are they going to buy or play around with computers? For these ordinary people, radio is a very important thing, more important than any other media.
__ __ __
The end of the Cold War brings no
change in status for the "enemy radio"
The Cold War is long past. China grows ever more deeply involved with America culturally, economically, and politically. But for Chinese authorities there is no real change in Voice of America's status as "enemy radio."
In 2013 General Liu Yazhou, member of the Central Committee and Political Commissar of the National Defense University, had his university join with the military's Political Department and General Staff Department, and the Academy of Social Sciences, to produce a television documentary, called Silent Contest. It expressed in full measure the hostility and distrust of the United Sates felt by the Chinese Army, Government, and Party. It warned the people that America was working through five channels-politics, culture, thought, institutions and society-to overthrow China. In one of these the leading force, it is said, is the Voice of America.
CLIP FROM SILENT CONTEST:
Too much evidence shows that the control and use of the internet has already become a major means and key channel by which the United States launches political attacks and tries to overthrow targeted governments. There is not the slightest doubt that the next target they have in their sights is China. This is no sensationalist exaggeration.
__ __ __
An Opening, a Light, the World
U. S. CONGRESSWOMAN ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN:
And you're giving them that light. You're showing them the way! Thank you for what you do-¡Muchas gracias!
U. S. CONGRESSMAN DANA ROHRBACHER:
The Voice of America is fulfilling a wonderful role, and I'm here to congratulate the Voice of America, and reach out to the Chinese people who are America's greatest ally in the cause of freedom.
U. S. CONGRESSMAN CHRIS SMITH:
What you have been able to do is pierce the great bamboo curtain, the great firewall of China, with a message of hope, a message of freedom....
WEI JINGSHENG: It's like when a person is locked inside a dark room, and suddenly a ray of light breaks in: it's thrilling, it's inspiring.
SASHA GONG:
When we were sealed inside an iron drum, it made an opening, a tiny opening through which we could see a very big world.
Stay tuned to the Voice of America
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中文版
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A860-W553
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号： A860-W553
Release
Date: February 11, 2015
发布日：2015年2月11日
Topic:
Wei Jingsheng interviewed by the VOA program
"History's Mysteries: Those Who Listen in the Dark" (video and
transcripts in English and Chinese)
标题：美国之音‘解密时刻：偷听"敌台"’节目，魏京生应邀接受采访（录像及中英文字幕内容）
Original
Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)
此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2015/report2015-02/VOAlistenindark150211WeiJSinterviewA860-W553.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------
美国之音‘解密时刻：偷听"敌台"’节目，魏京生应邀接受采访（录像及中英文字幕内容）
2015年2月6日，美国之音推出了中英双语的50分钟长卫视节目：‘解密时刻：偷听"敌台"’。中国民运领袖魏京生等数人谈及当年往事及美国之音的广播对被剥夺信息自由与言论自由的极权制度下的人民，尤其是中国人民的重要作用。
美国之音网站上原始节目的视频及相关中英文字的链接为：
http://www.voachinese.com/content/history-mystery-radio-listening-20150205/2630577.html
相关录像在魏京生基金会网站上的链接为：
http://www.weijingsheng.org/interviews/interviews2015/WeiJSinterview1502listeningVOA.mp4
及：
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtksOyAqkN0
以下为该视频的中英文字幕内容。
-----------------------------------------------------------
解密时刻：偷听"敌台"
--
美国之音
萧雨, 秋山, 杜林, 李肃
06.02.2015
02:45
华盛顿-
*引子*
魏京生："那个时候开始，悄悄地在家里头，收音机打开慢慢找找找，找着了。"
吴弘达："共产党、解放军占领上海，我爸爸每天，声音很小，听着那个电台。"
魏京生："很快地被我妈给发现了。不许听了，坚决不许听！"
吴弘达："不许乱讲啊，不许跟别人讲啊，讲了要杀头的。"
龚小夏："坐牢，一定是坐牢。"
吴弘达："后来我知道偷听的是美国之音。"
龚小夏："跟着就是这里是美国之音的中文广播（唱扬基歌）......。"
偷听 "敌台"美国之音
献给1942年以来美国之音的听众观众
__ __ __
*"不一样的说法"*
1971年9月的一天，正在中国解放军中服役的魏京生从美国之音的广播中听到了一则令他震惊的消息。
魏京生："首先提到中国有一架专机，在外蒙古坠毁了。这肯定坐的大人物啊，能坐专机的有谁啊？不就仨人嘛，主席、林彪、总理。"
【魏京生：
1978年北京西单"民主墙"运动主要参与者
1979年和1993年两度以"反革命罪"被判刑，坐牢18年
1997年流亡美国】
魏京生："周总理一看好像报纸上还登着呢，还每天......，咱们中国的这个特点就是大家从报纸上看谁消失了谁出现。周总理还在，林彪没出现，猜到了，林彪。"
当时在江西的邓朴方也从"敌台"中听到了林彪坠机的消息。他立刻把这件事告诉了他的父亲 - 当时因为政治上落难，正在江西新建县拖拉机配件厂"劳动"的邓小平。邓小平的女儿邓榕后来在回忆父亲的书中写道：父亲还是和往常一样沉默不语。
陈一谘 ："我印象最深的那次就是中国发生林彪事件的时候，美国之音里报导，说中国出现异常事件，说59年庐山会议的时候呢，中国境内的飞机只有不到一个礼拜停飞，现在有半个月飞机都始终停飞，一定发生了非常大的事件。所以第二天呢，我们就派一个朋友就回去了，等到两天之后他回来就告诉我们说，林彪摔死了。"
中国作家钟阿城当年是在云南建设兵团的北京知青。他在《听敌台》这篇文章中写道："1971年的林彪事件，几乎是当天从境外广播中听到的。这是七十年代的重要事件。毛泽东的神话顷刻崩溃。从1966年'八一八'毛泽东在天安门城楼上挥手开始，不，从刘少奇提出'毛泽东思想'开始，至此，催眠终止。"
中国政治学学者、被中国官方指称为"六四黑手"的陈子明这样写道："70年代，美国之音成为中国青年获取新知的一个重要途径。林彪事件后收听'敌台'在中国变得普及化，因为人们感到从官方渠道得不到真实的信息。"
魏京生："我们在部队的时候有个反革命小组织，就是林彪事件之后，大家觉得特奇怪，很多人都觉得这个共产党这不对劲儿啊，怎么能弄亲密战友啊，又是接班人的，怎么就给弄下去了？于是我们这些原来的老反革命，就在部队里开始串联，很快的形成一些小团体。当时这种老乡串老乡的团体啊，大家一议论说美国之音又说了什么了，你要不知道啊，你觉得特丢人。知道了以后，都觉得这是一个很重要的信息来源。这是一种言论自由的补充，大家就想听不同渠道来的不同的声音。"
1966年，毛泽东发动"文化大革命"。中国的政治、社会和信息控制进一步走向极端。也许是物极必反，政治空气窒息让许多年轻人开始寻求其它声音来取得平衡。
魏京生："我想66年的年底吧，11月份的时候，从那个时候，底下就有人传，哎，有一电台，美国之音，那里头说的跟报纸上说的不一样。
你比如说，老毛把刘少奇啊弄起来了以后，哎，美国之音就有一些完全不同的说法。说老毛搞'文革'的目的不是什么'文化革命'，他是为了权力斗争，要把政治对手搞掉。哎，我们听着就很新鲜啊，跟现实也很符合啊，你看很多人的老爹，一个一个怎么跟着都完蛋了？而且说刘少奇他到底有什么事啊？这种事真的假的啊？有不同的声音以后，人们就开始产生想法。"
__ __ __
*夜深人静偷偷听*
1968年12月，毛泽东发起知识青年上山下乡运动。南京五中的高三学生任毅成了他们中的一员。
任毅（南京知青）："我下农村的时候，我们班有个很好的同学。他是我们班上48个人中唯一两个没有下农村的。他是因为残疾，是驼背，他没有下农村。但是这个同学他有个特好的技能，就是装备半导体。他给我们几个比较要好的同学每人装了一部。那个年代装一部半导体要十多块钱。十多块钱是天文数字的。他竟然给我们每个同学装一部半导体。那个半导体有特殊的功能，专听美国之音。"
陈一谘原是北京大学学生。1965年，他给毛泽东写了一封三万字的长信，批评共产党和国家的不民主，被打成反革命。
陈一谘（前中国经济体制改革研究所所长）："69年就到了农村，因为我自己原来学物理嘛，我就做了一个八管收音机，哎，结果就能听到美国之音。结果我们就非常高兴。70年年初开始我们就每天晚上都听美国之音。"
高洪明（黑龙江生产建设兵团北京知青）："那天晚上你看我拿了那个收音机，躺在被窝里头，想听，但是别人没睡着啊，不敢听啊。憋得我都有点上不来气啊，都有点脑门子出汗。我慢慢拨、拨。"
龚小夏："我第一次真正听到美国之音的声音是1971年，还是林彪事件以前。"
【龚小夏
1977年因卷入"李一哲"反革命集团案，坐牢一年
1995年获得哈佛大学社会学博士】
龚小夏："我弟弟比我小一岁，是收音机爱好者。他从十二三岁开始就在装收音机。我当时只有一个耳机。这个耳机是一个耳朵塞在那儿，而且晚上我记得特别清楚，要拿手按着，半夜三更的时候才能听到。那时候第一次听到美国之音，杂音非常多。可是每次听到，它能给你一些非常新鲜的东西。"
一位美国之音的听众来信说："在那黑暗的年代里，我把短波收音机用黑布包起来，放到床底下，只有在晚上夜深人静的时候才敢拿出来，戴着耳机偷偷地听。"
这也是那个特殊时代给中国人留下的集体记忆。
__ __ __
*"宁可不吃饭也要听这个"*
任毅："所以我们到农村以后，知识青年当中听美国之音，说句老实话，很普遍很普遍，很普遍。因为没有别的消息过来，只能从美国之音里听到一点消息，比如说'阿波罗'上天，我们是从美国之音里面知道的。'阿波罗'上天把我们简直是太震惊了。都登月了！我们这儿还面朝黄土背朝天地在一锄一锄干农活。"
在那个闭关锁国的年代里，通过吱吱啦啦的电波传来的"敌台"的声音常常让人耳目一新。
魏京生："反正就觉得听着挺新鲜，哎呦，怎么说的不一样啊。这个故事好像是有另外的说法？这个对年轻人来说很重要。第一次以后就跟上了瘾似的，你就想听。可是在那种环境下，很封闭的环境下，那个时候人的感觉都是那样，宁可不吃饭，他也要这个。"
龚小夏："当时我在工厂里的时候，我们在广州江边能收得很好，因为城里面比较乱，江边比较宽阔。我们好几个人一块儿凑着听。我们有一台这么大的无线电收音机。有几个很好的朋友，我们后来也都是一块儿当反革命。"
当年在江苏农村插队的知青陆文这样回忆那段偷听"敌台"的岁月："这种来自电波的虚无的安慰就像镇静剂，支撑我度过了人生最艰难的一段日子，并让我明白世界上三分之二的人民并不希望我们去解放，红旗插遍全世界是老人家的一厢情愿，也让我明白台湾人民并没有处在水深火热之中，1960年所谓的浮肿病其实是饥饿所引起的，上山下乡是变相劳改......"
曾经担任中共中央党校理论研究室副主任的阮铭当时也是美国之音的听众。
阮铭："听美国之音我是很早就听的，但是过去听那是并不很系统，是偶尔听。比较系统地听是我到宁夏去以后。1969年开始，我们文化大革命中间中宣部撤销，从北京到宁夏。在宁夏这种地方听美国之音就特别清楚。"
魏京生："各界都有很多人偷听敌台。我就发现，有点儿知识，对现实有怀疑的人，很多人就想多听一些信息了，不能满足于《人民日报》那点儿东西。这个时候，偷听敌台就成为非常重要的信息来源。"
__ __ __
*"知音的感觉"*
1976年7月12日，美国总统福特签署《美国之音宪章》，宪章第一条明确规定："作为一个一贯可靠的、权威的新闻来源，美国之音播送的新闻必须准确、客观、全面。"
"这里是从美国发出的一个声音。消息可能是好的，也可能是坏的，但我们将告诉您真实的情况。"（1942年美国之音第一次播音）
陈一谘："很多重大的新闻，以及对一些重大问题的看法，我们都经常从美国之音得到启发。"
上个世纪８０年代，陈一谘担任过中国国家经济体制改革研究所所长，是前中共总书记胡耀邦和赵紫阳的高级智囊人物。尽管８９"六四"让陈一谘流亡海外，客死他乡，然而陈一谘在世时始终无法忘怀，那场壮志未酬的改革的起点要追溯到当年偷听美国之音的岁月。
陈一谘："所以上次我在普林斯顿大学见到周幼康先生（美国之音退休记者）以后，我就笑着跟他说，我说您是我的启蒙老师。"
龚小夏："中国这种政权，这种专制政权，毛泽东时代，很重要的一件事，他们做得非常成功的一个事情，就是将人的常识感和人的这个价值观念完全分开，也就是说你体会到的东西，他们可以告诉你说，这个不是真的。
我看见我父母'文革'被斗被打，我爷爷被抓去坐了四年牢。我知道他们是谁，我知道，我心里头知道他们是什么样的人，但是呢，外界就告诉你，你不能信这个，你要信党的。
那么我们这些人从来是内心很有挣扎的。外边来的这个信息让我们感觉到，我们能够再次相信我们自己的亲身的体会。也就是说这是疼的啊！外面告诉你，人家打你很疼，你说的确很疼，而共产党说，不疼啊，这是爹娘爱孩子。你知道他说的是不对的。
在这个时候听美国之音你就会发现，外边有整整一个世界，很大的一个世界，他们说的话是跟你的感觉是符合的。这太重要了！
美国之音，你有个知音的感觉。"
__ __ __
*偷听"敌台"是反革命*
不过，1949年中国共产党建立政权以来，收听美国之音在中国可能会有严重后果。
吴弘达当时生活在上海。父亲是一位银行家。
吴弘达："从49年我12岁开始，共产党、解放军占领上海，变成新中国的时候，我爸爸每天，声音很小，就听着那个电台。我当时小，也不知道，后来我就知道偷听的是美国之音。"
【吴弘达：
1957年被打成"右派"
1960年被判处无期徒刑，劳改19年
1979年移居美国】
吴弘达："当时只有两个电台，只要一听台湾电台自由之声，或者是美国之音，那就是偷听敌台，很严重。"
1950年10月10日，也就是中国出兵朝鲜的两天后，中共中央发出《关于镇压反革命分子活动的指示》。
吴弘达："据我们现在知道，镇压反革命运动大概是杀掉了100多万人。毛泽东自己说嘛，他杀了70万人，就是所谓反革命分子。那时候都是公开枪毙
啊。在体育场，在剧院里面公审，完了以后当时就押出去枪毙， 又贴又大喇叭广播，大部分都是春节啊、国庆节啊、五一节前几天杀一次。"
1952年，紧张的政治空气让15岁的吴弘达感到不安。
吴弘达："到了52年的时候，看到51年这么多人枪毙掉了，当中都有一条罪行就是"偷听敌台"。那我就跟我爸说，你就不要再听了。他说，小孩儿不要管，不要管。但是呢，我有时候到我父母亲的房间，我还看到他慢慢在那儿听这个东西。
有时候我爸爸在听我也凑过去听。他看我好像也是高中学生，大了，他也跟我一起听，但是一再，每次都要跟我讲：'不许乱讲啊，不许跟别人讲啊，讲了要杀头的哦。'"
龚小夏："当时很多人都是因为收听反动广播被判了刑。我们从小长大，'文革'的时候看旁边斗人，经常就有一条，说'偷听反动敌台'，'偷听美国之音'等等等等。所以呢，你自己听到是很害怕的一件事情，但是也很好奇。"
魏京生："很快的被我妈给发现了。马上严厉警告，说这个你可要小心啊，不许听了，坚决不许听！"
这种提醒和警告绝不是空穴来风。当年的确有很多中国人因为收听美国之音而付出代价。
魏京生: "这个反革命，你得蹲监狱、挨枪子儿的。"
龚小夏："我有一个同事，1974年，我记得非常清楚。他叫梅宇申。他比我大一岁，1955年生的，74年19岁。他就是爱听反动广播。我们倒没有一起听过。他是一个非常沉默的人，在工厂里，自己老听。结果有一次，他也听了美国之音，也给美国之音写信。他又听了台湾中广，也给台湾中广写信。这个信就被截了下来。他被判了八年徒刑。这是我们都记得非常清楚的事情。当时他没有别的罪行。这个罪行就是偷听反动广播，之后给'敌台'写信。"
在中共发动的历次政治运动中，"偷听敌台广播"属于一种很严重的犯罪。一旦这种行为被发现，轻则收缴收音机，被停职、隔离审查、批斗、勒令检讨，给戴上"坏分子"的帽子，重则被判刑。
吴弘达："抓到你偷听'敌台'，第一条他会问你，你偷听了多少次？什么台？台湾还是美国之音？美国之音哪一个频道？几月几号？接着下来问你，你跟谁讲过？跟你老婆讲，跟你儿子讲，跟邻居讲？邻居叫什么名字？然后他们会找邻居来作证。如果你要有什么活动。你组织小党，组织小党派，组织什么反革命，偷听
'敌台'以后还有组织反革命活动，共产党是绝对要加上去的。"
__ __ __
*偷听"敌台"后果严重*
偷听"敌台"情节严重者不仅可能失去自由，甚至可能丧失生命。
任毅："我罪行当中有个最主要的一个东西叫'长期收听敌台'。"
1969年5月，在农村插队的任毅写了一首歌，名叫《我的家乡》。
这首歌道出了下乡知青们共同的思乡之情和对现实、未来的迷茫，短短几个月内就在全国的青年人中传唱开来。它也因此有了一个更广为人知的名字--《知青之歌》。
任毅："这个《知青之歌》是越传越广，越穿越广。在这之前，我冥冥中感到事情出了。"
一天，那个给任毅装备半导体收音机的同学跑来告诉他，"敌台"里也在放《知青之歌》。任毅预感大祸临头了。
任毅："莫斯科广播电台是８月份播的，美国之音是10月份播的。我的汗把整个身子都潮掉了。我也感到事情出了。当时我做了一件什么事呢，自首。美国之音和莫斯科广播电台都播过以后。我去自首。
(1970年)
5月24号，就是我写歌的一周年，我看到我的死刑判决书了。5月24号，由南京市军事管制委员会，它全称叫中国人民解放军南京军事管制委员会判处任毅死刑，立即执行。"
最后因为时任解放军南京军区司令员许世友的一句"枪下留人"，任毅捡了一条命。
任毅是幸运者。美国芝加哥大学学者王友琴在《文革受难者》中记录过一个叫左树棠的名字。左树棠，上海人，"文革"中因为"收听敌台"被抄家、隔离审查，后来被毒打致死。而揭发他的那个人也被隔离，释放后流浪，最终以自杀结局。
吴弘达："是社会的文化、社会的道德、社会的政治造成的，不是杀几个人能够解决的。你说他偷听'敌台'我枪毙掉了，下回没人听？还是有人听。"
__ __ __
*"美国之音怎么成了反动组织？"*
张义才是杭州市一个电风扇厂的退休工人。2001年杭州市公安局到他家搜查时，查出了美国之音寄来的一张节目时间表。
张义才(退休工人)："后来问我，你听美国之音？我说电台我经常听。不但那时候听，现在也听。现在我有两个半导体呢，我都在听。你国家允许的。它又不是反动组织。"
在这之后，杭州市公安局下属的杭州市劳动教养管理委员会判处张义才劳教两年，罪名之一是收听美国之音的广播，给美国之音北京分社写信、打电话。
张义才："怎么会美国之音变成国内的反动组织？反动组织能够摆到北京吗？"
张义才不服判决，在劳教期间就写信要求司法部门对他的案子复议，但寄出的申诉材料始终石沉大海。
张义才："我上诉、复议了，向省、向市复议。他们都给我扣押起来，把我的信扣押掉。"
劳教结束后回到家，张义才依旧要为自己讨个说法，他写过无数申诉材料，控告杭州市公安局执法不当。
张义才："每个公安局领导都接待过我的。我就反映公安犯罪的事情，特别是这个'反动组织'。我年纪大了，我怎么还带个反动帽子离开人世啊？！"
现在，张义才依旧每天在信纸上一笔一划地写着申诉材料。
张义才："我肯定要搞清楚的。你要给我一个清白。我只要有一口气我就要跑。"
__ __ __
*"敌台"的由来*
其实，美国之音从成立的第一天起就被一些国家视为"敌台"。最早的是法西斯德国和日本。
1941年12月7日，日本偷袭美国珍珠港。美国对日本、德国、和意大利三个法西斯轴心国宣战。
1942年，美国之音成立，开始用德语和日语向德国和日本广播。当时，日本曾经禁止收听短波"敌台"广播，违者可能被依法判处死刑。
美国之音的中文广播向抗战中的中国人民提供了可贵的外界信息。
那时，美中两国是反法西斯盟国，中国共产党的领袖毛泽东甚至说过："美国人民是中国人民的好朋友，我党的奋斗目标，就是推翻独裁的国民党反动派，建立美国式的民主制度。"
然而到了1949年中共建政之前，中共领袖毛泽东已经决定投入以苏联为首的社会主义阵营，向苏联"一边倒"。1949年3月13日，毛泽东在中共七届二中全会的总结报告中说："中苏关系是密切的兄弟关系，我们和苏联应该站在一条战线上，是盟友。"
1949年8月18日，毛泽东为新华社撰写了火药味十足的抨击美国对华政策和美国驻华大使司徒雷登的文章，《别了，司徒雷登》，声称"整个美帝国主义在中国人民中的威信已经破产了"。
1950年6月，朝鲜人民军跨过三八线进攻韩国。美中两国军队在朝鲜半岛上，展开一场规模庞大的厮杀。数十万美中军人的鲜血洒在异国的土地上。
美国变成了中国官方所说的"世界上最反动的、最野蛮的、最富于侵略性的帝国主义国家"，成了"中国人民和世界人民共同的头号敌人"。
此时，中国共产党也将美国之音定为"敌台"。
1950年11月到12月间，新华社《内部参考》接连发表文章说：天津、上海、武汉、无锡、杭州、西安、长沙、太原等地到处都有很多人在收听美国之音。
这些报道还说："一般商人都认为'美国之音'消息灵通可靠，如汉城、平壤失守消息，'美国之音'早已发表，而我报迟迟未登出。" 于是一些人开始怀疑官方媒体的说法，美国之音的报道在民间口口相传，传播广泛。
1950年11月20日，以《人民日报》为首的中共党报开始大张旗鼓地刊登有关"各界人民纷纷主张取缔收听美国之音"以"杜绝匪特谣言"的消息。
清华大学外文系教授盛澄华撰文说："美国之音"是"比原子弹更恶毒的武器"。各地学生走上街头，向市民宣讲收听美国之音的坏处。
中共党史学者杨奎松说："逐渐地，收不收听美国之音成了爱不爱国的重大政治问题，甚至成了革命与反革命的一道分水岭了。"
于是，收听美国之音就成了"偷听"美国之音。
从1955年开始，中国对美国之音进行无线电干扰。干扰的方法是在相同的频率上播放噪音或者其它电台的广播。
20世纪60年代，美国陷入旷日持久的越南战争；毛泽东先后派遣30多万大军"抗美援越"，美国和中国之间的敌意进一步加深。
__ __ __
*《英语900句》
· 玉米地 · 大学梦*
70年代初，为了共同对付苏联的威胁，美中关系出现转机。
1972年，美国总统尼克松访华，
1973年美国政府在北京设立对华联络办事处。这一切都标志着两个对立了20多年的国家终于恢复了对话渠道。
何立达（美国之音退休记者）："尼克松从中国回来之后，我们当时中文部的头，他从台湾回来。他是外交官。他说在台湾用的一本教材很好。他说不妨我们试一试。"
1972年，美国之音的英语教学节目《英语900句》开播。
这一年，20岁的北京小伙儿平德加入中国人民解放军，分配给他的工作是在京郊的军队农场养马。一天，战友送给他一本《英语900句》。
平德："这个书来源很不容易。因为当时中国在文革后期，逐渐地和外部的世界又有了一些联系。据当时我们这个战友讲，因为好像中国的一些外交领导人到联合国去，这样的话，才把《英语900句》这本书给带回中国来，在当时叫所谓内部教材。
后来人家跟我讲，美国之音是有这个《英语900句》的课程的广播。这样我就跟着这个学。还专门去买了一个小的收音机，六七十块钱，在那个时候还是一个很贵的、很奢侈的家用电器吧。那个时候单位里面也很明确，鼓励大家学英语，但是明确说不可以收听敌台。"
平德明知这是"敌台"广播，但是他渴望学习。那时他一个人住在马厩里，每天和马打交道，晚上就收听美国之音的《英语900句》，用他的话说，"感觉活得像个贵族，美极了"。后来他被调到电工班。人多眼杂的地方收听"敌台"就难上加难了。
平德："那怎么办呢，那我就钻到被窝里面去，戴上一个耳塞机，去听这个课程。但是毕竟好多时候，还是需要把它念出来，因为你学英语，你这个模仿是必不可少的。最后没办法了，正好那时候在夏天的时候，我就带上收音机，拿个手电，再带上书，悄悄地跑到我们旁边的，夏天的时候，旁边主要都种的玉米，那个秸秆很高，钻到玉米地里，别人也不知道你在那里，你就在那里学就可以了。"
平德回忆说，有一次，我钻出玉米地返回宿舍时，被夜班的游动哨跟踪了很久，因为他可能是在怀疑我和某个女兵约会吧。其实当时要真是抓到了收听敌台的问题，所受的处分肯定要比男女约会更为严重。
平德："用当时的话说叫'上纲上线'，所谓'上纲上线'，你如果要是收听敌台，你就是一个，很可能就是一个通敌分子。那处罚是很严厉的。"
平德："回想起来，《English 900》也学了有半年多呢。坚持下来也是挺不容易的。是何立达的(版本)，每次结束的时候，她就讲:'这里是美国之音的《英语900句》课程，何立达在华盛顿主持播讲。'"
何立达："说实话，我自己本人并没有想到做到一个很成功的美国之音的一部分。第一，我觉得那时候的时机非常好。我相信我播报的声音还是不错。我对这个节目也非常有兴趣，也用了一些脑筋。所以我看这就是成功的一个因素。主要我还是觉得那时候大陆真是，一般的人都是想学英语，可是很可怜，没有英语教师。"
凭借《英语900句》，平德可以讲出一口美音纯正的英语。1975年，部队首长认为他工作干得不错，同时英语不错，于是在一次大学招收工农兵学员时，推荐他去上大学。就这样，偷听"敌台"成就了他的大学梦。
__ __ __
*缓和年代*
1977年的冬天，中国恢复了因"文革"而中断了十年的高考制度。"知识改变命运"不仅仅是一句口号，也切切实实地让一批中国人成为人才选拔的受益者。学习再次成为一件受到全社会推崇的事情；学英语更成为一股热潮。美国之音的《英语900句》在中国近乎家喻户晓。一位叫芦信的听众回忆说：
"那时候已经是80年代，风气大变，有的学校居然在广播里放VOA，似乎也没人大惊小怪。"
1979年，美中建交。对于那些刚刚走出"文革"十年浩劫的中国人，外面的世界，特别是西方世界，让他们充满强烈的好奇和憧憬。
美国之音的慢速英语节目和普通新闻节目成了中国新一代大学生学习英语，获取新闻的重要手段之一。越来越多的中国人把收听美国之音作为日常生活的一部分。
中国官方说，上个世纪80年代美国之音在中国拥有1700多万听众。
1989年春夏之交，中国爆发天安门运动。前中共总书记赵紫阳到天安门广场看望绝食学生。赵紫阳因为同情学生，反对武力镇压被撤职罢官，软禁终身。在赵紫阳身陷囹圄期间，他几乎每天收听美国之音。
王雁南（赵紫阳女儿）："VOA有一个了解中国情况的一些特别的节目。我总是记得父亲到了什么点，某一个时间的时候，就弯着腰听着那个小小的收音机，差不多是贴到耳朵上。实际上，父亲是想通过这样听收音机，听外电的一些报导来了解世界的情况和了解中国发生的情况。"
在中国党政军高层领导人中，收听美国之音不仅仅是赵紫阳一个人。在海外出版的《李鹏六四日记》有十几处提到美国之音，显示这位"六四"期间赵紫阳的主要政治对手、中共中央政治局常委和中国总理也是美国之音的"忠实听众"：
4月24日：早上听"美国之音"，说中国学生抗议警察施暴罢课，目的是给政府施加压力，要民主自由。
5月11日："美国之音"广播......4月27日大游行标志中国历史上的转折。
5月30日："美国之音"说，中国"正在党内进行斯大林式的清洗"。
--摘自《李鹏六四日记》
1989年的天安门民主运动让美国之音在中国的声望达到空前的高度。学生们甚至在广场上竖起高音喇叭公开播放美国之音。
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*全力干扰美国之音*
"六四"镇压之后，中国政府重新开始干扰美国之音，设在全国各地的干扰台，建筑物上没有任何标志，对外一概宣称是转播台。
王雁南："通常是干扰非常大，我们都听不到什么东西，吱吱啦啦乱响。干扰得非常厉害。信息控制得很厉害。现在想起来，了解中国的情况还要听美国或者法国的电台，实在很可悲。"
这些干扰台不光放噪音，还放锣鼓、唢呐演奏的民乐。四川一位听众来信说：
"由于不愿让邻居知道，只能带上耳机听，干扰美国之音的锣鼓震耳欲聋，时间长了，甚至会头晕眼花，但我也仍然坚持收听。
1994年9月，美国之音中文部开始播出电视节目。
1999年7月，美国之音中文网启用。至此，美国之音完成了从单一广播媒体向广播、电视和互联网多媒体的过渡。
像干扰美国之音的短波广播一样，中国也对美国之音的网站进行封锁。尽管如此，在世纪之交时，美国之音中文网的点击量每天仍然达到十万；每周收听美国之音广播的人数为800到1000万人。
如今，尽管中国人的信息来源已经与当年闭关锁国的时候不能同日而语了，但是对美国之音广播和网络的封锁却没有一丝一毫的放松，中国人要安装卫星电视接收天线需要得到公安局的批准。
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*挡不住的信息*
很多中国人还在通过美国之音获得外界传来的可靠消息。
据中国著名公共知识分子姚监复说，前中共中央政治局委员、中国国务院国务委员、北京市长陈希同在秦城监狱里就曾经依靠美国之音获取外界的消息。
姚监复："我说，你怎么知道国外说陈希同的贪污事？他说，允许带一个收音机。他听的就是美国之音。所以他从美国之音在监狱里听到了各种信息。我说，这很了不起。美国之音还给你提供了那么多信息。所以美国之音在这一点，我觉得起的作用也不可小估。所以对他来说，等于除掉《人民日报》以外，就是（通过）
美国之音知道各方面的信息。"
魏京生："知道一些高层领导，特别是一些不是很得意的一些高层，最高层，甚至政治局常委什么的，他们得到的，就是共产党给他们的信息也是不完全是真的，所以他们也听，兼听则明嘛。他们听是公开的听，甚至秘书、警卫员给调好了听，到了时间提醒首长美国之音要广播了，等等。他们是公开的，最近我到美国以后听一些国内来的朋友讲，就是说现在这些高层领导人人听。"
中国著名的盲人维权人士陈光诚被中国关押了五年之后，于2010年9月9日出狱。但是他仍然处于严密监控之下的软禁之中。在此期间，他几乎每天都收听美国之音的短波广播。
陈光诚： "刚刚回家的时候是没办法听的，因为家里没有这个（设备）。后来过了一天还是几天，我把一个很破的收音机修理了一下，能够勉强地听到一点点美国之音的报道。效果特别特别差那个时候。"
陈光诚在软禁中的境遇引起世界各国的关注，美国之音也做了大量报道。
陈光诚："尤其是在（2011年）2月11号、12号，我听到过一些咱们美国之音的报道。那个时候一般都是在晚上8点钟以后吧，我记得。好像还有重播。9点钟还要再播一次。9点钟以后。"
记者："那个时候听到的感觉会特别不一样吧？"
陈光诚："怎么说呢，对，那个时候就是唯一的信息渠道嘛。"
后来，负责监控陈光诚的人把这架收音机抢走了。他获取外界信息的唯一渠道也因此被切断了。
2012年4月，陈光诚在四位网友的协助下避开上百警察和政府人员的监视，进入在北京的美国驻华大使馆。经过美中两国的谈判，陈光诚和家人最终离开中国，来到美国。
魏京生："共产党对信息的封锁虽然不像以前那样完全能封锁住，但是封锁的程度也是很厉害的。你说'翻墙'，现在有多少？还说年轻人都会'翻墙'，没有都会，其实啊，能翻墙出来看电脑的人连1%都不到。大多数人，而且农村那些人，很多人很穷的，大家忽略了一点，中国有一半儿的人口在联合国的贫困线以下，他们哪儿买得起玩得起电脑呢？而对这些普通老百姓，广播是非常重要的东西，比其它的媒体都重要。"
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*冷战落幕
"敌台"身份依旧*
尽管"冷战"早已结束，美中之间的政治、经济和文化往来越来越多，但是对于中国官方来说，美国之音的"敌台"身份并没有本质上的变化。
2013年，中共中央委员、中国人民解放军国防大学政委刘亚洲将军亲自主导推出了由国防大学、
解放军总政治部和总参谋部、以及中国社会科学院联合制作的电视纪录片《较量无声》，充分显示了中国共产党、中国政府和中国军方对美国严重不信任和敌视的态度。片中警示中国人说，美国企图通过政治、文化、思想、组织和社会五条战线颠覆中国。美国之音名列其中一条战线的首要地位。
（《较量无声》视频：太多的证据表明，互联网的控制和运用业已成为美国向世界各目标国家发动政治打击，策划政治颠覆的基本手段和主要途径。毫无疑问，他们的下一个目标早已瞄向了中国，这绝非耸人听闻。）
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*洞·光·世界*
美国国会众议员罗斯·雷提南 (Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen)："你们给他们带来亮光。你们给他们指引了道路。感谢你们所做的一切！"
美国国会众议员戴纳·罗拉巴克 (Congressman Dana Rohrabacher)："美国之音发挥了卓越的作用。我要向美国之音道贺，祝贺它同我们在自由事业中的最伟大同盟
-- 中国人民携手共进。"
美国国会众议员克里斯·史密斯 (Congressman Chris Smith)："你们带着希望的信息，自由的信息，突破了竹幕，突破了中国的防火墙。"
魏京生："就像人们被关在黑屋子里似的，突然有一线光线进来，你会觉得特别惊喜，特别振奋。"
龚小夏："它给我们在紧紧封闭的铁桶中开了一个洞，就一个小洞，我们就看到了很大的世界。"
请您继续收看收听美国之音。
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魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联席会议以推动中国的人权与民主为己任。
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