Some international supporters of both the striking HK dock workers and the struggles against tar sands development in North America have set up a website to coordinate international solidarity actions and translate information about the strike. The following are (1) a brief overview of the stike, and (2) an explanation of the link to tar sands development they prepared for Earth Day (today). “As we think about the Tar Sands and fight the exploitation of native lands for a few people’s profits, remember Li Ka-Shing, who is one of those few, and the Hong Kong dock workers who also refuse to be exploited for his profit.” “Li Ka-Shing, the world’s 8th richest human being and the man who controls the Hong Kong docks, is not only the man Hong Kong’s dockworkers are fighting — he is also one of the people our anti-tar sand friends in North America need to be targeting…”

The snow that graced the city last week amid the rumble of spring festival firecrackers, still lighting up the night sky and contributing intermittent booms throughout the day, was a welcome respite to this excessively dry Beijing winter. The 1 mm of snow that dusted the capital from February 9-10, and the additional 1.7-3.1 mm on February 13, were acts of a central government desperate to combat the worst drought China has experienced in 60 years. Before last week, there had been no precipitation in Beijing for 108 consecutive days, making this the latest first snow since 1950. The entire North China plain is suffering from inadequate precipitation, with potentially disasterous consequences for the upcoming spring harvest of winter wheat.

Hundreds of Wuhan citizens are fighting to save the city’s East Lake Ecological Tourist Scenic Area (东湖生态旅游风景区) from plans to fill in part of the lake and develop the area commercially. Villagers and fishery workers evicted by the development have been negotiating with the local government for compensation since December, in the face of physical assault by hired thugs. And last week hundreds of urban residents and students planned a protest march, but this was canceled after police visited the homes of organizers, students were warned against participating by school authorities, and at least one organizer had his internet cut off. Representatives of the development company and the local government held a press conference denying that any part of the lake would be filled and claiming that the development would not hurt the area’s ecosystem, and information to the contrary has been removed from websites. But critics of the plan want to continue the fight and are presently preparing protest activities including a petition and postcards to be sent to the central government, artistic performances, a campaign to pitch tents and camp out at the development site, and a newsletter and internet forum to enable public discussion of the issue.

Overview of four Chinese articles on climate change and rural development, by Dale Wen and Dan Ran. Announcement about an International Workshop on Sustainable Food & Agriculture in Beijing, March 12-15.

Yet another report on this alternative development project in Sichuan, this focusing on Gao Qingrong, one of 1,000 “grassroots women” chosen from around the world as potential nominees for the Nobel Peace prize in 2008. This is from a new group blog posting interviews with people from a variety of backgrounds in Asian countries, aiming to complicate the picture presented in mainstream Western media.