The Voice of Free China () was the

international broadcasting International broadcasting, in a limited extent, began during World War I, when German and British stations broadcast press communiqués using Morse code. With the severing of Germany's undersea cables, the wireless telegraph station in Nauen was t ...

station of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

from 1949 until 1998. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

era the station was the source of Chinese Nationalist propaganda largely aimed at discrediting the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and buttressing the Nationalists' claims to be the sole legitimate government of all of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The Voice of Free China, for many years, was owned by the Broadcasting Corporation of China. This was a private company under a government contract to provide public radio programming. The BCC still exists today, but in 1998 the Voice of Free China and the government-owned Central Broadcasting System merged. With the easing of

cross-strait relations Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). The relationship ...

and the liberalization of Taiwan's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, the Voice of Free China changed its name to Radio Taipei International in 1998 and also used the name "Voice of Asia" for some broadcasts. In 2003, it became

Radio Taiwan International Radio Taiwan International (RTI; ) is the English name and call sign of the Central Broadcasting System (CBS), national broadcaster and international radio service of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. It is a government-owned sta ...

reflecting the defeat of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

government in 2000 and the new government's orientation towards

Taiwan independence Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

from China. Today, this station is now known as

See also