From local courts to the world stage

South China Morning Post - Nov 11, 2026

[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] A table tennis rally can turn in an instant. A change of spin, a sharply angled return or a moment’s hesitation can decide the point. At the highest level, players must read their opponents and make decisions almost before the ball leaves the bat. Those skills will be on show at Kai Tak Arena from 9 to 13 December, when some of the world’s leading players compete at the WTT Finals Hong Kong 2026. For the city’s aspiring...

Read full article

More News

China-Asean partnership is helping build common home and shared future

China-Asean partnership is helping build common home and shared future

On November 22, 2021, President Xi Jinping and the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) jointly announced the establishment of a China-Asean Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, marking a new milestone in the history of this important relationship. Guided by the vision of a closer community with a shared future and with sustained efforts to build a peaceful, secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable region as our common home, China and Asean have jointly nurtured one of...

China mocks US ‘congratulations’ over Dominican closure of Chinese-run factory

China mocks US ‘congratulations’ over Dominican closure of Chinese-run factory

China’s embassy in Santo Domingo accused the United States on Monday evening of “sinister intentions” and mocked Washington for “congratulating” the Dominican Republic on closing a Chinese-run cardboard factory. The rebuke came hours after Juan Pablo Segura, who leads the US State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, praised Dominican authorities on social media for “taking decisive action to shut down a massive, illegal, Chinese-operated cardboard factory”. Operating without...

Chinese-French team celebrates ‘borderless connections’ at Shaw Prize ceremony

Chinese-French team celebrates ‘borderless connections’ at Shaw Prize ceremony

The Chinese and French winners of the 2026 Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine have highlighted the spirit of “borderless connections” and friendship behind their research – which turned a rare form of leukaemia from deadly to widely curable. At an awards ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday attended by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, the life scientists celebrated their breakthrough as an “East meets West” success story and called for collaboration to...

Will Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair become another ‘spy balloon’ saga for US-China ties?

Will Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair become another ‘spy balloon’ saga for US-China ties?

China hawks in Washington could weaponise allegations that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by Chinese intelligence, despite denials from Beijing, Chinese experts warn. They said controversy would give US hardliners fresh ammunition to push for tougher curbs on AI chip exports to China. One of them compared the potential fallout to the 2023 “spy balloon” incident, when the US shot down in its airspace what Beijing said was an off-course weather balloon, putting relations on ice for...

'The Remarried Empress' viewers divided over costumes, dialogue delivery

'The Remarried Empress' viewers divided over costumes, dialogue delivery

“The Remarried Empress,” which has built a global fan base through its original web novel and webtoon, has made its live-action debut. Given the popularity of the original, expectations were high even before its release. But so were concerns over whether a live-action adaptation featuring Korean actors could convincingly bring to life the world of a romance fantasy set in a Western-style imperial court. Released on Nov. 3, the Disney+ original series “The Remarried Empress” is an epic romance fantasy centered on Navier (Shin Min-a), the seemingly perfect empress of the Eastern Empire. When Emperor Sovieshu (Ju Ji-hoon) tells her he wants a divorce after falling for Rashta (Lee Se-young), a runaway slave, Navier agrees on one condition: that she be allowed to remarry Prince Heinrey (Lee Jong-suk) of the Western Kingdom. The series is directed by Jo Soo-won, known for hit dramas including “I Can Hear Your Voice” and “Pinocchio.” “The Remarried Empress” already boasts a substantial global following. The original web novel has recorded more than 160 million downloads, w

Filmmaker Lee Chang-dong finds poetry in fight of the powerless individual

Filmmaker Lee Chang-dong finds poetry in fight of the powerless individual

"'Possible' and 'love' are both commonly used words, but when they came together, the combination felt unfamiliar. I wondered, 'What kind of love is possible?' I thought the title would pose a question to audiences and prompt them to reflect on the nature of love." The title "Possible Love" sparks curiosity before the film and leaves audiences with a peculiar sense of sadness afterward. It emerged from this very idea, according to director Lee Chang-dong, whose seventh feature film marks his return to the big screen after an eight-year hiatus. The Hankook Ilbo met Lee at a cafe in central Seoul on Friday, the day Netflix, the film's investor and distributor, released it worldwide. As its title suggests, the film explores several intertwined layers of love. It follows the events that unfold when Ho-seok (Sol Kyung-gu), a laid-off worker, and his wife Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon) encounter Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), an affluent documentary filmmaker who films their lives, and her husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung). Issues of labor, class and the ethics of artistic creation overlap on multiple levels. Lee

16 short-form playwrights to face off in Seoul Players' 10-Minute Play Festival

16 short-form playwrights to face off in Seoul Players' 10-Minute Play Festival

Seoul's international theater community prepares for battle once again, as the 10-Minute Play Festival (10MPF) takes to the stage to find this year's top playwright. This will mark the 13th year of the contest, brought to the stage at Dulwich College in southern Seoul by Seoul Players, a not-for-profit, volunteer-run English-language theater group founded in 2001. For this year's contest, they received 410 submissions sent in March and April from 354 playwrights based all over the world. The number of submissions has exploded in recent years, peaking at more than 500 for last year's festival in just two weeks, before submissions had to be closed early. "Last year, one of the board [members] felt that many of the hundreds of plays we got were AI-generated," said Lorne Oliver, a producer for Seoul Players. He didn't disagree with the assessment, but he explained why it didn't affect their final decisions: "I just thought most of them were not up to snuff." He added, "We did not bother to run them through an AI check; we just went with the assessment results, since cream floats." This year, th

Korea's economy is booming. Why isn't President Lee's popularity?

Korea's economy is booming. Why isn't President Lee's popularity?

On paper, Korea's economy looks strong. Fueled by a semiconductor export boom, the country's annual exports are projected to top $1 trillion for the first time this year, making Korea only the fourth country to reach the milestone, after the United States, China and Germany. Forecasts from eight major investment banks put Korea's real gross domestic product growth at an average of 3.5 percent this year, with some expecting growth as high as 4 percent. Per capita gross national income is also expected to surpass $40,000 for the first time, potentially placing Korea sixth in the world by that measure. By those numbers, President Lee Jae Myung's approval ratings should be soaring. The economy, after all, is widely regarded as one of the biggest drivers of presidential popularity. Yet that is far from the case. A Realmeter survey of 2,528 adults nationwide, conducted from Nov. 2 to Friday for the Asia Business Daily, put Lee's approval rating at just 35.9 percent. His ratings have hovered between the high 30s and low 40s since October, a sharp decline from 67 percent seven months earlier. More

String of drug busts shatters Korea's drug-free myth

String of drug busts shatters Korea's drug-free myth

A string of recent drug cases is eroding Korea’s lingering reputation as a drug-free country, highlighting how both Koreans and foreign nationals are being increasingly drawn into narcotics crime. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police said Monday that it referred 66 foreign nationals to the prosecution between March and October on charges including violating the Narcotics Control Act, with 30 of them being held in custody. Many of the suspects were Southeast Asian students who entered the country on D-2 student visas or D-4 language training visas. Of the seven separate cases, one involved drug manufacturing plans and another smuggling, while five involved distribution, purchase and use. One suspect set up equipment in a studio apartment to make ecstasy pills from powder and other materials smuggled into Korea, but was caught before obtaining them. Six others were arrested in succession after investigators found evidence that they had smuggled large amounts of ecstasy, ketamine and other drugs into Korea through international mail in March. They operated in isolated cells and took order

N. Korea tests new torpedo, eyes early 2027 deployment

N. Korea tests new torpedo, eyes early 2027 deployment

North Korea has test-fired a new type of torpedo in the East Sea, state media reported Tuesday, saying it plans to deploy the system with its Navy in early 2027. The Academy of Defense Sciences, the Missile Administration and the Torpedo Weapon Research Bureau "verified the combat effectiveness" of the new high-speed torpedo system Monday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test was part of the "obligatory activities" of the defense research institutes to put weapons technology "on a highly-developed basis," it added. The North gave no further details on the torpedo's specifications. Pyongyang has been pushing to strengthen its naval capabilities with a string of weapons tests. Last month, it conducted an underwater test of a new high-speed, precision-guided torpedo that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology, calling it a "significant" change in its naval capabilities. It also fired two types of strategic cruise missiles from what was presumed to be a 3,000-ton submarine in the East Sea. In June, it commissioned the 5,000-ton Choe Hyon destroyer in the West Sea, followe

N. Korea's nuclear power recognition demand could hinder prospects for Trump-Kim summit: ex-US official

N. Korea's nuclear power recognition demand could hinder prospects for Trump-Kim summit: ex-US official

North Korea's apparent demand to be recognized as a nuclear power could complicate U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to arrange another summit with leader Kim Jong-un, a former senior State Department official said Monday. "I think my understanding, at least, is that the North Koreans have communicated to the United States that the only condition under which there could be consideration for a summit is if the United States accepted North Korea as a nuclear power," Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of state, said. Campbell made the remarks during a press briefing hosted by the Asia Group to preview Trump's upcoming trip to Asia, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China. "Given the current circumstances, I think that would be almost impossible for President Trump to accept," Campbell said, noting that it could face opposition from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. "I don't think the political circumstances make it likely for anything other than maybe just a handshake of sort

ILLIT's 'Break Even' debuts at 6th on Billboard 200

ILLIT's 'Break Even' debuts at 6th on Billboard 200

K-pop girl group ILLIT has landed in the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard's main albums chart for the first time. Billboard said in a chart preview released Monday (U.S. time) that ILLIT's latest EP, "Break Even," debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 for this week. It marks the group's fifth entry on the chart and its first in the top 10. The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States, measured by equivalent album units comprising physical and digital sales, as well as streaming and digital track downloads. "Break Even" earned 37,000 equivalent album units during the latest charting period, with 32,500 coming from album sales.

Recommended

Asia Viral News

Asia Viral News features the latest and most trending news from Asia. Get ready to immerse yourself in the daily engaging topics with share-worthy news only in Asia Viral News.

ABOUT US
Newsletter

Copyright © 2015 - 2026 Asia Viral News. All Rights Reserved.