Pirate Radio in Asia - China (From International Waters)

China (From International Waters)

A number of offshore radio stations have reportedly operated from the South China Sea, mainly for political purposes and these include Voice of the People's Liberation Army; Radio Flash; The October Storm; Redifussion Central; Popular of Peking. In 1990-1991, two other offshore radio stations intended for a Chinese audience made news in the world's press.

One of them was Radio Tiananmen, a station that was to be based aboard the MV Sarah (Lichfield I) to be renamed Liberty that had been the former home of Radio Newyork International that broadcast briefly during two consecutive years in late 1980s from an anchorage off Jones Beach, New York. The idea was to anchor the ship in international waters off the Northeast coastline of the USA and to broadcast on behalf of the thousands of Chinese students studying in the USA in support of their fellow students who had demonstrated in Tiananmen Square. The idea faltered when the backers were told that the United States government would oppose an independent political station of this type.

The other station was created in France and sponsored by Actuel, a French magazine and The Face, a British magazine together with support from contributors in Hong Kong. The group called themselves "Federation for Democracy in China" and they purchased a ship which they painted with prominent signs under its new name: Goddess of Democracy, which appeared to be both the new name of the ship and the working name of the proposed station. When the vessel sailed from La Rochelle, France it was intended for the ship to dock and that is where studios, transmitters and radio antenna would be installed. However, the project ran into one political problem after another and after several ports of call the would-be radio ship ended up as a financial liability headed for the scrap yards.