FROM my temporary vantage point outside of the Manila bubble — more on that in a bit — it is both interesting and alarming, in my opinion, that the growing public conflagration in China has so far received very little coverage in this country. I spent an hour or two of "me time" in a beachside bar last night (Sunday) doom-scrolling through news reports from all the major outlets about the surprisingly large protests that are rapidly spreading in Chinese cities; Monday morning's news from the Philippine papers, however, barely acknowledged the unrest.

For those who haven't heard about it, public demonstrations have broken out all across China in the wake of a deadly apartment building fire in the western city of Urumqi last week. It is presumed that harsh lockdown restrictions under China's strict "zero Covid" policy prevented those who died in the fire from escaping or being rescued. Whether or not that is true, that is what the Chinese public believes, having lost all patience with their government's draconian anti-Covid measures — the only such measures still being employed anywhere in the world — that result in entire cities being shut down every week.

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