Similar treatment has apparently been accorded to the Mandarin
broadcasts of the Voice of America, which are on the air for over three times as long every day as those of the BBC. However, comparisons between
the two services, particularly in relation to objective reporting on the
events in China, have tended to be in the BBC's favour. The Editor of the
"Mail on Sunday," Stewart Steven, writing from Xi'an in Shaanxi Province
in June, referred to the Chinese people's two main sources of information: VOA and "the infinitely more respected BBC World Service." The students
carrying the banner thanking the BBC told a correspondent that "the BBC gave us more reports, with more detail and more background (than VOA.)"
The implications of this upsurge of awareness of the BBC in the longer
term are considerable. Many of the students who took part in the
demonstrations in Peking, Shanghai and other cities were from out of town,
and have now returned home. If they carried back with them that new
awareness of the BBC's Chinese Programmes, the effect could have been
multiplied many times over.
CANTONESE
It is sometimes difficult to tell from the letters received in Chinese
whether the writers are listening to the BBC in Mandarin or in Cantonese.
A substantial proportion of the mail to the Chinese Section, however, continues
to come from Guandong (Canton) Province, suggesting that listening there
remains high. It is likely to grow further when RTHK (Radio TV Hongkong) starts rebroadcasting the BBC Cantonese (and some Mandarin) programmes on
Medium Wave in December 1989.
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