Strong earthquake in southwest China kills 46

Unfortunately this will continue to happen as they are located at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where the Indian and Asian tectonic plates meet.

The Regional Governor is a new guy, and in trying to keep in favor with Beijing implemented a COVID lockdown - residents in some apartment blocks found themselves locked in when trying to exit via the buildings Emergency exits.

The Regional Governor is a new guy, and in trying to keep in favor with Beijing implemented a COVID lockdown

The "local officials" in most Chinese cities are not really locals as one thinks of them in western democracies. The are not local people who worked their way up within the local government. They are party members parachuted in from Beijing who know nothing about the places they are expected to govern but are expected to carry out Xi Jinping's orders faithfully no matter what the obstacles are.