By Michael Vincent and Michael Walsh
The history of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is a story of Australia's relationship with Asia and the Pacific.
But the ABC's international operations have come a long way from their origins in 1939.
Designed to compete as a propaganda service during World War II, radio programs were broadcast in the languages of both Australia's allies and its enemies: initially in French, Dutch, German and Spanish, and after 1942 in Japanese, Thai, Indonesian and Mandarin.
Additional story at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-16/abc-celebrating-80-years-of-international-broadcasting/11783252