If you’re interested in labor in China (and if you’re not, you should be), then hurry over to the South Atlantic Quarterly where you’ll find four great articles on the topic that have been temporarily emancipated from their paywall:
Ralph Litzinger: The Labor Question in China: Apple and Beyond
Ngai Pun and Jenny Chan: The Spatial Politics of Labor in China: Life, Labor, and a New Generation of Migrant Workers
Tim Pringle: Reflections on Labor in China: From a Moment to a Movement
Ho-fung Hung: Labor Politics under Three Stages of Chinese Capitalism

Today’s New York Times runs a story about the US decision to station troops in Darwin, Australia to counter a more assertive China. The headline of the story is “As U.S. Looks to Asia, It Sees China Everywhere.” Ok, first, China is a big country, and it’s *in* Asia. Second, let’s look at the military presence of the two countries abroad. China’s overseas military installations: 0; US: 700+. Here’s a map of US military installations in the vicinity of China:

For more info, let me point you to the book Nemesis by Chalmers Johnson, here’s a link to an excerpt:

I’ve been wondering how China’s liberal media will view OWS. Would they see the movement as significant? Would they attempt to draw an analogy between OWS’ rhetoric of 99% vs 1% and China’s own situation in some way? Would they downplay it? Really, I was curious, and trying to keep an open mind. And then today I read this story at Southern Weekend (China’s most widely-read liberal newspaper), as far as I can ascertain the only reportage on OWS so far on the site, based on an interview with someone on the ground in NYC: A Movement of Complainers? Close-up Observations of ‘Occupy Wall Street’

First, another statement of support to OWS was issued by a diverse grouping of leftists several days ago, signed by hundreds:

Strongly support the the American people’s just struggle against the rule of capital

In order to protest the greed of the financial oligarchs, the US’ proletariat has occupied Wall Street, striking a blow at the Western world’s financial capital, crying out ‘End to capitalism!’ and ‘Revolution Now!’ This movement has already lasted three weeks. This “people’s revolution” has sent a strong shock wave and caused panic in the Western world. There is no doubt that, this movement that began in the financial capital of the Western world…

A group of several hundred individuals in Zhengzhou protested earlier today in support of Occupy Wall Street, I believe earning them the distinction of being the first public action in China related to the occupation. As far as I can tell, the event was related to a Maoist grouping, going by the signs and the rhetoric from the posting at Utopia. Can anyone else recall an international solidarity action in China in recent memory? I can’t. Well, maybe the aborted anti-war marches of 2003, but there was a great deal of expat involvement in those. Indeed, it’s so jarring that Western journalists have been forced to face up to their utter confusion about Chinese popular nationalism and left-wing groups and rhetoric. Quite rich to claim that if the people you report on on fail to fit into your narrative, it’s because they’re confused and muddled.