Welcome and thanks for your interest in Mandarin Service!!

Radio Veritas Asia

Radio Veritas Asia will celebrate its 40^th Anniversary in 2009, so will the Mandarin Service. If you have interest in knowing how RVA began, please go back to RVA Home Page and click “History,” allow the Real Play program to tell you the story.

RVA Mandarin Service

The main goal of the RVA Mandarin Service is to broadcast programs to all Christians in Mainland China after Communists took over in 1949 the country where all foreign missionaries were expelled in 1952.

Eleven years after its inception and preparation, the Radio Veritas was inaugurated on April 11, 1969.  Two months later, the Mandarin Service began.

On RVA Newsletter, dated May 1969, noted that a Chinese Program would be on the air soon, starting June 15.  It said that “a new program will be aired daily for fifteen minutes.  The broadcast will be under the Overseas Department, and will all be in Chinese, ranging from Mandarin, Cantonese, Amoy to Fukienese.  Each program will last for 15 minutes.  They will be non-political, mainly religious, cultural and educational.  The producer will be Mrs. Lim, a Chinese-born economics graduate from Peking University.  Mrs. Lim was recommended to RVA by Msgr. Tsao, parish priest of St. Jude.”

Unfortunately, in 1973, the RVA Oversea Programs were closed because of difficulties encountered in the Short wave operation.  It was reopened in 1974.

In 1974, almost at the end of the Cultural Revolution (1965~1975) in China, Cardinal Jaime Sin requested Fr. Ismael Zuluaga to produce again Chinese programs for Mainland China Christians.  Out of concern for the “Silent Church” in China, Fr. Zuluaga was able to find interested oversea Chinese parishioners in Manila and restart the Mandarin Service.  It was the second birth of Mandarin Broadcast.

Aware of the importance of Mandarin Program in the life of the Catholics in China, Fr. Zuluaga invited producers from Hong Kong and Taiwan in July, 1977 to work together for the programs.  In 1984, because of lack of personnel in Manila, the Jesuits in Taiwan took more responsibility in the production of the programs, specially the post-Vatican II theological formation programs for the Church leaders in China. The Jesuits also helped to set up Mandarin Production Center in the Kuangchi Program Service, located in Taipei, Taiwan.  

In 1992, the production Center was moved to Tien Educational Center, Taipei, where Jesuits continued to supervise the program productions until the Society of Divine Word took over in 1996.  Since then, up to the present time, the SVD has been generously supported the Mandarin Service. A work place for the productions has also been provided in Hsintien, Taipei.  

In 2004, daily Church news program was added to the broadcast.  Some Chinese seminarians and nuns who are studying in Manila are actively involved in this program. 

Angela Liu, mmb