Lianhe Ribao (聯合日報) is a Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper that was formed on January 1, 2004, through the merger of Miri Daily News (美里日報), founded in 1957, and Zhong Hua Ribao (中華日報), established in 1945. The newspaper primarily serves East Malaysia, with circulation concentrated in Sarawak and extending to neighboring Brunei Darussalam. According to industry data, the newspaper’s circulation increased from 40,947 copies in 2004 to 50,729 copies by 2017, making it one of the fastest-growing Chinese newspapers in East Malaysia. Lianhe Ribao focuses particularly on local news coverage from western Sarawak regions including Kuching, Samarahan, and Sri Aman, distinguishing itself through community-based reporting that serves the Chinese-speaking populations in these areas.
Kwong Wah Yit Poh (光華日報) is a Malaysian Chinese-language daily newspaper founded on December 20, 1910, by Chinese revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) in Penang. The newspaper was established from the Tongmenghui headquarters at 120 Armenian Street, which now houses the Sun Yat-sen Museum Penang. Kwong Wah Yit Poh is recognized as “the world’s oldest Chinese newspaper outside of China” and Malaysia’s oldest surviving Chinese-language newspaper. The publication ceased operations during World War II in 1941 and resumed in 1946. Currently led by Chairman Dato’ Sri Lim Soo Tong (拿督斯里林綉通) and Deputy Chairman Tan Sri Ong Kim Huat (丹斯里王錦發), the newspaper operates from 19 Presgrave Street in George Town, Penang, serving primarily the northern Malaysian Chinese community with a daily circulation exceeding 100,000 copies.
The Oriental Daily, founded on September 29, 2002, by Datuk Sri Lau Hui Kang under the KTS Group (啟德行企業集團), shifted to an online-only format on April 16, 2021, after 18 years of print publication. The news outlet claims to provide “neutral, timely, and credible” news coverage with both simplified and traditional Chinese character options. According to unspecified independent traffic monitoring reports, the website is among Malaysia’s most visited Chinese-language news sites, claiming approximately 50 million monthly page views and over 4.5 million unique visitors. The KTS Group also owns other media outlets, including Sin Hua Daily (詩華日報), established in 1952, The Borneo Post, Utusan Borneo, and TEA FM radio station. As of 2024, the outlet claims over 2 million Facebook followers and maintains a presence on multiple social media platforms.
The Cambodia China Times (柬中時報) was launched as an online-only digital venture by Phlong Vichet after leaving the Commercial News. Vichet, who had worked at Chinese-language newspapers in Cambodia for over a decade, soft-launched the platform in January 2018 to serve the growing Chinese investor and tourist community. The publication received its news website operating license from Cambodia’s Ministry of Information on February 8, 2018, making it the first new media outlet established by Cambodian Chinese. The platform launched mobile applications for Android and iOS in July 2018, and in 2020 expanded to include a Khmer-language section.
Fresh News is a technology news website that started in 2012. It was founded by people with experience in news and IT. The site offers free mobile apps for Android and iPhone users that never expire. Fresh News shares video news on Facebook, where it has over 2.2 million followers. In November 2024, the company made a partnership deal with Guangxi International Communication Center, which is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda office in that province. The platform has also published articles written by Chinese government officials, including President Xi Jinping.
The Chinese American Post (中美郵報) is a Chinese-language weekly newspaper founded on July 4, 1994, in Denver, Colorado, by Chinese scholar Tu Xinshi (屠新時). According to Chinese sources, it is “the only Chinese weekly newspaper founded by Chinese scholars” in the American Midwest. The paper serves Chinese communities across the region, covering news about China, local community affairs, and Chinese culture, as well as visa services and advertisements from moving companies. Chinese media claim the newspaper has gained “international recognition as an overseas Chinese media outlet with a good reputation.” It has received official acknowledgment from several Chinese government entities, including the State Council’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (國僑辦), the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (中國外交部新聞司), the official China News Service (中新社) — under the United Front Work Department of the CCP — and the People’s Daily Overseas Edition (人民日報海外版). During a visit to Colorado in December 2010, Shenzhen municipal overseas Chinese affairs officials met with Tu, praising his work in promoting Chinese culture and discussing potential cooperation opportunities. In February 2017, Tu Xinshi signed a partnership agreement with Huaren Toutiao (華人頭條), a digital platform targeting overseas Chinese communities. The collaboration aimed to expand the newspaper’s audience, particularly on social media.
Established on October 10, 2000, in Surabaya, East Java, the Harian Nusantara describes itself as one of Indonesia’s prominent Chinese-language newspapers with widespread circulation and significant influence. With 20-24 pages daily, the publication reaches readers throughout Indonesia, particularly in eastern regions, with content also circulated to Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China. Its editorial focus is primarily on Indonesian affairs, with “domestic news” covering Indonesian rather than PRC current events, and dedicated “Chinese community” sections on Chinese community activities within Indonesia. However, the paper publishes extensive coverage of China-related news, acknowledging that news from China occupies the majority of their international coverage as readers’ “ancestral homeland,” including systematic, comprehensive reporting through dedicated China sections. Since 2011, it has collaborated with China Radio International (中國國際廣播電台) to select “Top 10 Southeast Asian News” stories. The paper operates correspondents throughout Indonesia and maintains reporting bureaus in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, indicating institutional ties that facilitate regular coverage of mainland China developments and Indonesian diaspora activities there.
The China Greece Times (中希时报), established in January 2005 by Zhejiang trader Wu Hailong (吳海龍) along with Jiangsu native Wang Peng (汪鹏), is a weekly Chinese community newspaper in Athens with a circulation of 3,000 free copies distributed primarily in Athens’ Chinatown area. The bilingual publication includes 24 Chinese pages and 8 Greek pages, serving Greece’s overseas Chinese community and local Greek readers. The newspaper maintains content-sharing agreements with Chinese state media outlets, including People’s Daily and Xinhua News Agency, as documented in the outlet’s own timeline showing formal partnerships established in 2005 with Xinhua and 2009 with People’s Daily. Such arrangements are part of broader Chinese state media efforts that have involved providing free content to international publications. But there are clear indications that the China Greece Times is in fact a front for the Chinese government. The paper, which operates the site China-Greece Online (希中網), claims support from the Chinese Embassy in Greece. But its dedicated news app, launched sometime after 2020, provides a contact e-mail from the official China News Service (CNS), the newswire directly under the CCP’s United Front Work Department. Wang Peng is also the chairman of the Greece-China Alliance for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (希臘中國和平統一促進會), an organization linked to the UFWD. The publication has expanded its Greek-language content since 2015, which the outlet describes as aimed at “showing Greek society a constantly changing China.”
The Chinese Commercial News was established in October 1919 as the “Overseas Chinese Commercial News” (華僑商報), a monthly newsletter of the Manila Chinese Chamber of Commerce under editor Yu Yi Tung (于以同), before becoming a daily newspaper in April 1922. The daily broadsheet, headquartered in Manila’s Binondo district, publishes in multiple languages, including Chinese, English, Hokkien (閩南語), and Filipino. During World War II, publisher Yu Yi Tung refused Japanese demands to use the paper as a propaganda organ and paid with his life, leading to closure and confiscation until the paper resumed publication on April 15, 1945. The newspaper was again closed during martial law from September 21, 1972, until resuming on June 12, 1986, after the People Power Revolution, the largely nonviolent popular uprising in the Philippines in February 1986 that ousted President Ferdinand Marcos after 20 years of authoritarian rule. It covers Philippine news, economic affairs, and Filipino-Chinese community life alongside a dedicated “China News” (中國新聞) section that draws heavily on Chinese state media content. The paper lists among its key partners the China News Service, or CNS (中國新聞社), a state news agency under the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), as well as CNS-linkedChinaQW (中國僑網) and Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po (文匯報). The mobile app for the Chinese Commercial News on Google Play uses a support email on the chinanews.com.cn domain, the official CNS website. The paper’s website also republishes CNS wire content. In August 2022, the Chinese Embassy in Manila confirmed that the paper was among 15 media outlets whose representatives met CCP International Liaison Department (中共中央對外聯絡部) head Liu Jianchao (劉建超), who called on media to “strengthen exchange and cooperation” (加強交流合作) to advance bilateral relations.
