[2] World Journal is published in major cities in the United States with large overseas Chinese populations including New York as well as Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

The publication is owned by the same media conglomerate that runs the United Daily News in Taiwan and carries a significant Taiwanese American administrative presence.

While the paper still attempts to maintain an anti-communist stance,[7] it has become increasingly sensitive to the tastes of its large Chinese immigrant readership which has grown since the 1990s with the expanded access to permanent resident green cards in the United States following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

[8] According to a 2001 report by the Jamestown Foundation, World Journal was one of the four major Chinese newspapers found in the U.S. that "has recently begun bowing to pressure from the Beijing government."

The report referenced an instance of self-censorship by World Journal in its efforts to develop business ties with Mainland China in which Chinese Consulates in both New York and San Francisco have pressured the paper's local offices to not publish ads related to Falun Gong.

[9] Conversely, Jason Q. Ng of China Digital Times and Citizen Lab[10][11] considered World Journal in 2013 to be relatively critical of PRC policies.

[12] On January 10, 2007, a Southern California jury found the Monterey Park-based Chinese Daily News responsible for failing to give employees breaks, lunches, and overtime, and awarded the plaintiffs $2.5 million.

The plaintiffs alleged that they worked over twelve hours per day, were not provided accurate pay statements, and were unfairly interfered with during unionization attempts.

The article received strong reaction among Chinese American Community and the Taiwanese Breastfeeding Association launched a protest against World Journal.