Critics have called the move a setback for democracy but Beijing's state newspaper Global Times denounced VOA for its "appalling track record" in reporting on China and said it has "now been discarded by its own government like a dirty rag".

Beijing has long criticized the outlet, as well as Radio Free Asia, for highlighting human rights abuses in China.

The dismantling of the international broadcaster and other U.S. government-funded news outlets was criticized as another blow to U.S. soft power efforts.