CHINESE JAMMING:

Is it Declining?

The opposition broadcaster, Sound of Hope (SOH), has been on air since 2003, broadcasting to mainland China from low-powered transmitters in Taiwan. Also known by its Chinese name Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, the Sound of Hope broadcasts mainly in Mandarin but also has segments in Cantonese.

SOH offers a mixed content of news, current affairs, and educational programs. It provides a voice for the mainland-banned Falun Gong, a spiritual and philosophical movement that proved to have huge popularity among citizens of mainland China in the 1990s.

Waterfall of Firedrake jamming
obliterating a broadcaster's signal.
(Courtesy: sigidwiki.com)

Because of its links to the Falun Gong movement, SOH has always been subject to heavy jamming in the form of either the musically noisy “Firedrake” broadcasts or relays of China National Radio 1 (CNR1), a.k.a. The Voice of China. But with SOH operating on more than 70 frequencies at various times of the day, the mainland has always found it difficult to constantly jam every frequency used by SOH.

In Germany, Wolfgang DF5SX is a close watcher of SOH broadcasts. In my recent email chat with him, Wolfgang indicated that he is observing less jamming of SOH broadcasts these days. Some long-held SOH transmissions on out-of-band frequencies appear unimpeded by the usual Chinese government jammers. Indeed, he has also noticed reduced jamming of some other broadcasters, such as VoA’s Uyghur and Tibetan services, and some BBC World Service channels beamed to East Asia. Strangely, some frequencies are still jammed but not others.

So, what’s going on here? Is China taking its foot off the brake on opposition broadcasters? Considering the recent heightened political tensions between China, Taiwan and the West, this would seem unlikely.

Perhaps the mainland government no longer perceives shortwave broadcasts as a threat because its citizens no longer use shortwave radio as a tool for seeking out alternative views. Or maybe the cost of operating many higher-powered jamming transmitters across its vast land is prohibitive in these economically challenging times.

Whatever the reason, this is a welcome development in the broadcasting spectrum. It will be interesting to observe whether this is part of a trend or if Chinese jamming increases again as global tensions rise.

Having said all of the above, a quick scan of the international shortwave bands reveals that there is still plenty of jamming going on! Radio Free Asia and some Mandarin broadcasts from Radio Taiwan International are particularly susceptible to heavy jamming these days.

The distinctive siren jamming used by the Vietnamese government beamed at some foreign and clandestine broadcasters is an issue, although this appears not to be as effective as from the Chinese. And jamming examples of broadcasts aimed at African nation-states can often be heard.

73, and have a great weekend!

Rob Wagner VK3BVW