An Ignoble Experiment: A border zone washed from existence

On the ground in China’s wiped-out border zone

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cnsphoto/Reuters

By Simone McCarthy

A rock-strewn crevasse is all that remains of what used to be Gyirong Port.

The high-altitude hub has been completely washed from existence, leaving a moonscape of stones, gravel and sludge still being searched by emergency workers, as witnessed by a CNN team that gained access to the site on Sunday as part of a government-organized visit.

Reporters were given hard hats and boots, to contend with the still-unstable mud-caked ground, and the ever-present risk of further landslides.

This border crossing was once a bustling nexus for tourists and traders moving between China and Nepal. Hundreds of people would typically pass through each day going to or from Nepal’s Rasuwa port, just across the river.

All that changed on August 26, when the port was engulfed by an enormous wave of water – as the first point of impact from a landslide and explosive flooding that then ripped into Nepal. People were seen in devastating surveillance footage fleeing for their lives as the deluge struck.

No survivors have been found at the port, which has become a focal point for families both in China and around the world desperate for any information about loved ones they believe were at the checkpoint when tragedy struck.

Dark factories

Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

These days, some of China’s most advanced electric vehicles are assembled in “dark factories” – production plants largely staffed by robots, meaning lighting is no longer needed.

During a recent visit to one of these sites in Ningbo, an industrial hub in the country’s east, a manager showed CNN how he had significantly slashed manpower with the help of robotics and artificial intelligence.

“If we built this 10 years ago, there would have been around 700 people,” Yang Hui, deputy general manager of a factory belonging to Zeekr, currently one of China’s largest EV companies, told CNN.

“But after introducing some automation and application of artificial intelligence, we have fewer than 200 people.”

China is now home to more than two million industrial robots, about five times the total in the US.

At Yang’s factory, machines do all the welding, while human employees are brought in for quality control.

While President Donald Trump pledges to create jobs by bringing auto manufacturing back to the United States, factories in China are showing they can build faster with fewer people.

Latest on China

Chinese artificial intelligence firms are committing “industrial-scale” theft of their American counterparts’ trade secrets to save money and bring the coveted technology to market faster, US federal agencies alleged Tuesday. Major Chinese tech companies are using “distillation,” which involves training lesser AI models on more advanced ones, the bodies said in an advisory – an allegation Beijing has called “baseless.” President Donald Trump has said that AI will be on the agenda when he hosts Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington, DC, later this month.

As the US war on Iran continues to disrupt supplies from the Middle East, China has demonstrated a unique ability to modulate its demand for oil. It has also turned to Brazil for more oil, largely contributing to the South American nation’s record-high production and exports this year.

Typhoon Saudel hit eastern China last week, packing strong winds and causing flooding that swept away cars and collapsed buildings.

As China’s legions of basketball fans hope for the emergence of the next Yao Ming, more Chinese players are joining the American college league to chase their NBA dreams.

Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first leader after the former British colony was returned to China in 1997, has died at 89, according to local press.

Meanwhile, also in the financial hub, you can get drinks and snacks from a robot-manned convenience store chain that has recently expanded outside of mainland China – only if you aren’t in a hurry and don’t mind paying a premium.