America has always been at its best when it stands firmly for truth, freedom and human dignity. Today, that legacy is under threat. Just as the world needs them most, vital American soft power tools — Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty — are at risk of being dismantled by the Trump administration.

I know what that voice sounds like. I first heard it through a shortwave radio in the early 1990s, when I was a university student in China, far from my hometown of Kashgar in the Uyghur region. Isolated and eager to understand the outside world, I tuned in to the BBC and Voice of America. That crackling shortwave signal was my window to freedom. For me, it was more than news — it was a revelation.

I never had formal English training. Everything I learned came from programs like Voice of America’s Special English and Talk to America. I also tuned into its Mandarin service, which helped sharpen my Chinese. Hearing democracy and dissent in the same language used for propaganda was both jarring and electrifying.

Those broadcasts introduced me to American ideals — freedom of speech, democratic movements, political dissent and civil society. They told stories of exiles, reformers and ordinary citizens. They changed my life.

As I wrote in my memoir “No Escape,” those radio signals inspired me to come to America nearly 30 years ago. I became the first U.S.-educated Uyghur corporate lawyer, a congressionally appointed official and a human rights advocate.

© The Hill