WATCH IT Partners with iQiyi: Chinese and Korean Dramas Hit Arab Screens for the First Time
In a strategic content-sharing deal signed on May 11, 2025, streaming platform WATCH IT joins forces with China's entertainment giant iQiyi to introduce top-rated Chinese and Korean dramas to Arab audiences for the first time. This exciting collaboration promises a richer, more diverse viewing experience while expanding both platforms' digital libraries.
Kicking things off, WATCH IT is now airing several hit series that captivated millions in their home countries:
🎖 My Dear Guardian
Genre: Romance, Action, Drama
Starring: Johnny Huang, Li Qin, Ji Tian Yi
Streaming: Sundays to Tuesdays
In a military thriller filled with danger and emotion, a disciplined special forces officer and a sharp army doctor clash, connect, and fall in love amid a deadly terrorist threat.
👁 The Golden Eyes
Genre: Action, Crime, Fantasy, Mystery
Starring: Lay Zhang, Feng Chuanzhou
Streaming: Thursdays to Saturdays
When an ordinary young man gains supernatural vision, his life spirals into a world of ancient treasures, dark conspiracies, and deadly secrets.
👑 Strange Legend of the Tang Dynasty
Genre: Action, Historical Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Starring: Yang Xuwen, Zhang Yujian
Streaming: All episodes available since June 5, 2025
Set in the glory days of the Tang Empire, a series of bizarre crimes force a commander and a clever investigator to confront political intrigue and mythical forces in a gripping historical mystery.
Since its launch in 2019, WATCH IT has been committed to delivering high-quality, culturally resonant entertainment. This latest move underlines its mission to offer a global, family-friendly streaming experience—bridging Arab audiences with the vibrant worlds of Asian storytelling.
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WATCH IT Partners with iQiyi: Chinese and Korean Dramas Hit Arab Screens for the First Time
In a strategic content-sharing deal signed on May 11, 2025, streaming platform WATCH IT joins forces with China's entertainment giant iQiyi to introduce top-rated Chinese and Korean dramas to Arab audiences for the first time. This exciting collaboration promises a richer, more diverse viewing experience while expanding both platforms' digital libraries. Kicking things off, WATCH IT is now airing several hit series that captivated millions in their home countries: 🎖 My Dear Guardian Genre: Romance, Action, Drama Starring: Johnny Huang, Li Qin, Ji Tian Yi Streaming: Sundays to Tuesdays In a military thriller filled with danger and emotion, a disciplined special forces officer and a sharp army doctor clash, connect, and fall in love amid a deadly terrorist threat. 👁 The Golden Eyes Genre: Action, Crime, Fantasy, Mystery Starring: Lay Zhang, Feng Chuanzhou Streaming: Thursdays to Saturdays When an ordinary young man gains supernatural vision, his life spirals into a world of ancient treasures, dark conspiracies, and deadly secrets. 👑 Strange Legend of the Tang Dynasty Genre: Action, Historical Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller Starring: Yang Xuwen, Zhang Yujian Streaming: All episodes available since June 5, 2025 Set in the glory days of the Tang Empire, a series of bizarre crimes force a commander and a clever investigator to confront political intrigue and mythical forces in a gripping historical mystery. Since its launch in 2019, WATCH IT has been committed to delivering high-quality, culturally resonant entertainment. This latest move underlines its mission to offer a global, family-friendly streaming experience—bridging Arab audiences with the vibrant worlds of Asian storytelling.
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'Most of the time during the service is dedicated to miscellaneous tasks, and not actually combat-related.' A mundane duty Back in 1949, as the Nationalist government lost a bloody civil war against the insurgent Chinese Communist Party and fled to Taiwan, it introduced mandatory military service to the island, where eligible men would serve two years in the army or three years in the navy, air force or marines. The system, in one form or another, has been in place ever since – as have Beijing's designs on the island, which the Communist Party claims as its own territory, to be taken by force if necessary. But military service has long been seen as anything but heroic. Conscripts have described it as monotonous, disorganized and often irrelevant to modern warfare: a combination of indoor lectures, hours of waiting around, and outdated ceremonial drills. 'Not only are you not going to learn anything effective, you're going to fire a couple of bullets, sit through lectures, mow lawns, stand guard duty – all the things associated with a spit-and-polish military,' Mike Hunzeker, a former US Marine officer who has trained Taiwanese units, told CNN. US officials, not authorized to speak openly, quietly warn that Taiwan's reserve forces remain the soft underbelly of its defense posture. One official said millions of former conscripts exist 'on paper,' but years of truncated service and minimal refresher training have left them 'underprepared for modern warfare.' Past CNN interviews with former conscripts paint a bleak picture: decades-old rifles shared between units, cannon and mortar training with little or no live ammunition, and conscripts left idle or tasked with meaningless chores. While there are no official estimates for the number of illegal draft-dodgers, a tally by the Ministry of the Interior shows that, from 2021 to 2023, cases of suspected obstruction of military service have risen from 309 to 553. 'It is imperative to reform military service as quickly as possible,' said Wu Tzu-li, an associate research fellow at the INDSR. 'After all, the fight ultimately comes down to the people operating the weapons and not the weaponry itself, so having solid education and training is crucial.' Taiwan's military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan May 12, 2025. Ann Wang/Reuters Attempts at reform Even Taiwan's leaders have acknowledged the problem. Shortly after taking office in 2016, former President Tsai Ing-wen called for sweeping reform, as opposed to 'papering over problems, wasting human resources, and operating inefficiently in so many different ways.' 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Critics say that unless Taiwan revamps how – and what – soldiers are taught, young men will continue to view the draft as symbolic rather than strategic. 'The key is what kinds of training will be provided to the new conscripts,' said Chieh. 'It's important to not let them feel they've wasted one year.' Another US official added that 'Taiwan is making good progress in enhancing the realism of training for reservists, but still has work to do in updating their equipment and reforming the organization of reserve units.' 'Retraining and equipping existing reservists to operate asymmetric platforms like drones and anti-air missiles will have an outsized impact on Taiwan's ability to deter conflict.' In a statement to CNN, the Defense Ministry said: 'Military service is a civic duty prescribed in the constitution. Any attempt to evade conscription by any means should be condemned and subject to legal actions.' It added that the new, extended one-year training period 'enables conscripts to undergo systematic and comprehensive military training, including enlistment, stationing, specialization, base training, and joint exercises – equipping them with essential combat skills and a firm resolve to defend the nation.' K-pop band BTS members RM, left, and V salute after being discharged from a mandatory military service in Chuncheon, South Korea, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Ahn Young-joon/AP Korean contrast In nearby South Korea – another place marked by long-running hostility with its nearest neighbor – military service is taken a lot more seriously, and counting down the days until major celebrities will park their careers to don military fatigues has become something of a national pastime. Rather than damaging reputations, military service is often seen as a sign of integrity and patriotism in major stars – an impression that can enhance their careers after taking off the uniform. Earlier this month, K-pop superstars RM and V, from the band BTS, became the latest high-profile conscripts discharged from national service. They each saluted upon their release from duty in Chuncheon city, after about 18 months of active service, to the cheers of about 200 gathered fans – some of whom traveled from Mexico, Turkey and Brazil. The other five members of the massively popular group either have completed or will complete the mandatory service, and the band expects to reunite within the next 12 months. Even soccer superstar Son Heung-min, who avoided conscription through an exemption after winning gold at the 2018 Asian Games with South Korea's national team, has taken four weeks of basic military training. For Taiwan to restore faith in conscription, military analysts say, it will need to reduce loopholes, improve instruction, and modernize training to reflect real threats – particularly as tensions with Beijing intensify. It will also, they say, need a cultural shift: one that values service not as empty symbolism, but as preparation for a possible fight. But it depends whether the recent reforms take root. 'The fear,' said one former conscript, 'is that the new system will look just like the old one – only longer.'
