India's Only Chinese Newspaper in Kolkata Stops Printing After 5 Decades

A printing press of a Chinese daily in Kolkata has stopped printing, bringing an end to a journey after five decades.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in 2020, Kuo-tsai Chang, the editor of the country’s last Chinese-language newspaper, “Overseas Chinese Commerce of India” or “Seong Pow,” would start his day by glancing at the day’s important news and then proceed to edit the daily publication.

He followed this routine uninterrupted for 30 years. However, Covid-19 brought the printing press to a halt. For the first time since its inception, the press stopped printing.

The final blow to the newspaper came with the passing of Kuo-tsai Chang in July 2020. But the newspaper came to a permanent stop.

Now, the newspaper office is filled with disorganized stacks of cut papers and the lingering smell of ink. Before the lockdown, only 200 copies were printed daily, each copy was sold at Rs 2.50.

Prior to the pandemic, the office was open for only four hours, from 8 am to noon, Monday to Saturday, and it was KT Chang’s habit to step into the office promptly at 8 am. However, since July, the Mandarin newspaper has become nothing more than a name.

Zha Liyou, Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Kolkata, said it is a monument of hard work. “To my knowledge, the Chinese community in Tangra and Tiretta Bazaar in Kolkata is still working on reopening the daily, although it is a challenging endeavour. The cessation of the newspaper is a result of Covid-19, but it would be a true loss if it were to be permanently discontinued,” he said.

“Overseas Chinese Commerce of India” or “Seong Pow” was not the first Chinese-language newspaper. In 1935, the first “Chinese newspaper,” The Chinese Journal of India, was published in India.

“Seong Pow” was first published in 1969 by Lee Youn Chin, a community leader. The daily primarily focused on business-related news. For Kolkata’s Chinese community, “Seong Pow” is a source of pride.

In its early days, the four-page daily publication used to be handwritten. Later, a Chinese DTP machine replaced the handwritten papers with “Seong Pow.”

Over the years, the circulation has sharply declined, dropping from 900 in the 1990s to 190 in 2017. Previously, copies of the newspaper would be sent to Delhi and Mumbai, but that is no longer the case.

Two tables, two computers, two landline phones, two cupboards, a few chairs, a printer, and a rack filled with brittle old newspapers—these items are now locked away, and the building of the Chinese Tannery Owners’ Association exudes a sense of melancholy.