Raw Cassette Recordings from BBC China, Diplomatic Correspondent, 1984-1992

As this website has been updated, in April 2025, I’m now making accessible literally ALL the raw cassettes I recorded first as BBC World Service Central Europe Correspondent based in Vienna (1981-84), then as BBC Radio China Correspondent (1984-1987), and on to BBC World Service Diplomatic Correspondent (1988-1992) as I covered the end of the Cold War, including the reunification of Germany, Tiananmen Square (before the tanks went in), the Romanian Revolution and the end of Yugoslavia.

The cassettes have been uploaded in their original form, without editing, and listed here on OneDrive in year order.

There are probably more than 600 hours of listening here. Access is provided without password, just with the request to handle the recordings with respect and curiosity, and to let me know (via the contact link above) how you found them and what you found interesting.

This page will be work in progress for a while, and I don’t rule out 0) returning here to bring some form of cataloguing order to the chaos below.

But there are some serious gems in here, including live reporting from Tiananmen Square and Romania in 1989, and a good deal of raw From Our Own Correspondents and Radio Newsreel despatches.

Another era. Enjoy.

Mark Brayne