ABSTRACT
In September 1988 the Chinese Branch was heavy with features including: space; science; medicine; Asian politics; world politics; Hollywood; sightseeing in Washington D.C.; pop music; culture; literature; American drama; personalities in the news; world economics; and US-China relations. With the exception of specialists in American history and politics, few Chinese had the basic knowledge to fully comprehend the topics. The series would have been pitched at the knowledge level of a Chinese high school graduate and would have used common Chinese knowledge of history and human relations to describe American human and political relationships. The effectiveness of the Voice of America (VOA) in China and the working environment at the VOA's Chinese Branch in Washington is somewhat of a contradiction. According to VOA guidelines, all news used by the language services must originate in the central news section and is only translated by the services.
