Countering China Through Radiowaves with All India Radio

As China ups the ante all across the LAC, it's high time India takes steps to counter the Chinese dragon. India has started using all within its power to pressurize China, as the Ladakh standoff continues to drag on, and tensions are rising in the Bhutan, India, and China Occupied Tibet trijunction overlooking Siliguri Corridor in West Bengal and even Arunachal Pradesh. While India has banned dozens of Chinese apps on account of security issues, there are other steps being taken to counter the Chinese narrative.

India, in order to counter the Chinese narrative, has in the past couple of years decided to boost radio transmission of its Chinese Mandarin language radio programs, through All India Radio targeting mainly Han Chinese living in central and coastal China. It was 3 to 4 times a week for a 90-minute program. But now plans have been set to start daily programs in Mandarin, so as to allow more and more Chinese citizens to know what people in other countries think about them or what is actually happening in China. We all know how China controls information, people living in one region most of the time don’t know what is happening in other regions. A lot more needs to be done however to fight the Chinese misinformation campaign.

Also, All India Radio has decided to increase the frequency of its Tibetan language programs from alternate days to daily reportedly for more than 2 hours targeting the people living in China-occupied Tibet. However, there are a few more steps that India can take to counter China on narrative or propaganda build-up.

1. All India Radio can start Chinese Cantonese language programs on daily basis targeting the Cantonese people living in Southeast China around Macau and Hong Kong.

  2. All India Radio should start Turki language programs daily basis targeting the Uighur Muslims living in Chinese-occupied East Turkistan/Xinjiang province.

  3. Increase Nepali language and Bhutia language program time daily on All India Radio. 

  4. Setup high powered radio transmitters all along the borders to ensure programs on All India Radio are heard in areas as deep as possible in Chinese-occupied regions and Chinese heartland.

India has a lot of catching up to do with China with regards to infrastructure push and propaganda machinery, India’s All India Radio program time on Chinese Mandarine/Cantonese, Tibetan, Turki/Uyghur, Nepali, & Bhutia languages can go a long way to help fight the information dissemination war with China. Though the above steps are baby steps a lot more needs to be done in terms of investment in time, human resources, and infrastructure.