The Fookien Times was established by Dee C. Chuan in February 1926, originally targeting Chinese migrants to the Philippines from Fujian. In its early history, the newspaper was concerned with raising money for flood relief in Fujian through the "Save Fujian Hometown Campaign", which had been ravaged by flooding in 1925 and 1926. In contrast to newspapers like the Chinese Commercial News, which Dee established earlier as a newspaper for the Chinese Filipino merchant class and the political issues in the Philippines concerning them, the founding of The Fookien Times was motivated by major events in mainland China rather than happenings in the Philippines.
