Editing BBC World Service (section)

===Asia===
For several decades, the World Service's largest audiences have been in Asia, the Middle East, [[Near East]] and South Asia. Transmission facilities in the UK and Cyprus were supplemented by the former BBC Eastern Relay Station in [[Oman]] and the [[BBC Far Eastern Relay Station|Far Eastern Relay Station]] in Singapore, formerly in Malaysia. The East Asian Relay Station moved to [[Thailand]] in 1997 when Hong Kong was [[Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|handed over]] to Chinese sovereignty. The relay station in Thailand was closed during January 2017, and in [[Singapore]] during July 2023;<ref>{{cite news | title = BBC's call will continue after transmissions end | url = https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/bbcs-call-will-continue-after-transmissions-end/MBUUASPXN3PNXAVHUNUTHSVKWA/ | author = Rosaleen Macbrayne | access-date = 30 August 2023 | work = New Zealand Herald }}</ref> currently, a relay station in [[Masirah]], Oman serves the Asian region. Together, these facilities have given the BBC World Service an easily accessible signal in regions where shortwave listening has traditionally been popular. The English shortwave frequencies of 6.195 (49m band), 9.74 (31m band), 15.31/15.36 (19m band) and 17.76/17.79 (16m band) were widely known. On 25 March 2018, the long-established shortwave frequency of 9.74&nbsp;MHz was changed to 9.9&nbsp;MHz.

The largest audiences are in English, [[Hindi]], [[Urdu]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and other major languages of South Asia, where BBC broadcasters are household names. The [[Persian language|Persian]] service is the ''de facto'' national broadcaster of [[Afghanistan]], along with its Iranian audience. The World Service is available up to eighteen hours a day in English across most parts of Asia, and in Arabic for the Middle East. With the addition of relays in Afghanistan and Iraq these services are accessible in most of the Middle and Near East in the evening. In Singapore, the BBC World Service in English has been carried on [[FM broadcasting|FM]] alongside domestic stations since 1976, via a relay operated by the country's state-owned broadcaster [[Mediacorp]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-03-31 |title=How to listen to BBC World Service in South-East Asia |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-radio-and-tv-12927616 |access-date=2025-03-10 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC - Press Office - BBC and MediaCorp renew agreement on transmission in Singapore |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories//2005/07_july/06/singapore.shtml |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> For many years [[Radio Television Hong Kong]] broadcast BBC World Service 24/7 but as of 12 February 2021, Hong Kong has banned the BBC's World Service radio from its airwaves, following swiftly on the heels of China's decision to bar its World News television channels, seemingly in retaliation for Ofcom revoking the UK broadcasting licence of China Global Television Network. In the [[Philippines]], [[DZRJ-AM|DZRJ 810 AM]] and its FM sister station [[DZRJ-FM|RJFM 100.3]] broadcasts the BBC World Service in English from 06:00 to 20:00 [[Philippine Standard Time|PHT]] from Mondays to Saturdays.

Although this region has seen the launch of the only two foreign language television channels, several other services have had their radio services closed as a result of budget cuts and redirection of resources.<ref>{{cite news | title = BBC Thai service ends broadcasts | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609860.stm | author = Clare Harkey | date = 13 March 2006 | access-date = 8 November 2008 | work = BBC News | archive-date = 18 December 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081218021705/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609860.stm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12864041 |title=BBC Chinese Service makes final broadcast in Mandarin |author=Vivien Marsh |publisher=BBC |date=28 March 2011 |access-date=25 October 2011 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511224200/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12864041 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Japan and Korea have little tradition of World Service listening, although during the Second World War and in the 1970s to 1980s, shortwave listening was popular in Japan. In those two countries, the BBC World Service was only available via shortwave and the Internet. As of September 2007, a satellite transmission (subscription required) became available by Skylife (Channel 791) in South Korea. In November 2016, the BBC World Service announced it plans to start broadcasts in Korean. ''BBC Korean'', a radio and web service, started on 25 September 2017.<ref name=38north-20170926>{{cite web |url=http://www.38north.org/2017/09/mwilliams092617/ |title=Option for North Korean Radio Listeners |last=Williams |first=Martyn |publisher=U.S.-Korea Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies |work=38 North |date=26 September 2017 |access-date=28 September 2017 |archive-date=27 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927034911/http://www.38north.org/2017/09/mwilliams092617/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Jamming====
{{Further|Radio jamming|Radio jamming in China}}
The Soviet Union, Iran, [[Iraq]] and [[Myanmar]]/Burma have all [[Radio jamming|jammed]] the BBC in the past. [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] was heavily jammed by the People's Republic of China until shortwave transmissions for that service ceased<ref name="bbc-20110328">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12864041 |title=BBC Chinese Service makes final broadcast in Mandarin |first=Vivien |last=Marsh |publisher=BBC |date=28 March 2011 |access-date=13 March 2014 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227080708/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12864041 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="guardian-20110320">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/mar/20/bbc-world-service-us-funding |title=BBC World Service to sign funding deal with US state department |first=Ben |last=Dowell |newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 March 2011 |access-date=13 March 2014 |archive-date=11 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311160518/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/mar/20/bbc-world-service-us-funding |url-status=live }}</ref> but China continues to jam transmissions in [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/10_october/15/uzbek_jammed.shtml |title=Press Office – Uzbek language broadcasts jammed |publisher=BBC |access-date=15 March 2014 |archive-date=14 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714022716/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/10_october/15/uzbek_jammed.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="parliament1">{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmfaff/267/267we06.htm |title=House of Commons – Foreign Affairs: Written evidence from the BBC World Service |website=Publications.parliament.uk |access-date=15 March 2014 |archive-date=14 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314131836/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmfaff/267/267we06.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and has since started to jam transmissions in English throughout Asia.<ref name="parliament1"/><ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Plunkett |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/feb/25/bbc-condemns-china-jamming-world-service |title=BBC condemns China's 'deliberate' jamming of World Service broadcasts &#124; Media |newspaper=The Guardian |date= 25 February 2013|access-date=15 March 2014 |archive-date=14 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314115802/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/feb/25/bbc-condemns-china-jamming-world-service |url-status=live }}</ref>