Deutsche Welle's Chinese language website published an article titled "Couldn't a warning have been issued earlier?" regarding a large-scale landslide that occurred in the border region between Nepal and China.

A large-scale landslide that occurred on August 26 in the border region between Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region has resulted in over 900 deaths on both sides of the border and approximately 4,800 missing persons by the afternoon of August 31.

The article reported that "since the disaster occurred, the issues of early warning and disaster prevention have become a focal point, with media outlets such as Reuters and Bloomberg pointing out that the lack of cross-border information sharing between China and Nepal may have affected the prediction and preparedness for large-scale disasters on both sides."

According to Reuters, experts and officials from both countries proposed joint measures for risk reduction, such as glacier surveys and the identification of potential hazard areas, at a meeting held in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, on May 27. However, two Nepalese government experts who attended the meeting stated that they had not received sufficient information from the Chinese side afterward. Twelve days before the flood, China's World Meteorological Center had sent a warning email to Nepal, stating that a monsoon depression would occur from August 14 to 19. Nepalese hydrologist Binod Parajuli said that China provided forecasts and observational data on heavy rainfall in Tibet via chat apps and email, but this did not include information on water levels, avalanches, or landslides. Another hydrologist, Sauhardra Joshi, said he had hoped China would notify them earlier if there were signs of glacier movement. All officials and experts interviewed did not blame either side for the disaster, but this disaster indicates that many complex factors are involved in monitoring, predicting, and issuing early warnings for disasters in the Himalayas.

According to the article, Bloomberg quoted Dharam Raj Upreti, head of Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, as saying, "People don't even have five minutes to prepare." He stated, "The lack of cross-border data transfer mechanisms and limited information sharing is one of the big challenges we face." The Chinese Embassy in Nepal replied in an X post on August 29 that geological disaster risks in the Himalayas are dispersed, and many glaciers are located at high altitudes of 4,000 to 5,000 meters or more, making monitoring extremely difficult. In addition, remote sensing on steep slopes is prone to errors, and the 2015 Nepal earthquake further increased the uncertainty of disaster prediction. The Chinese expert team has reportedly made every effort to monitor, evaluate, and analyze within the limits of existing technology and has shared important information with Nepal in a timely manner.

Regarding future cooperation, Binod Parajuli said that he wants to jointly build a system with the Chinese side to monitor avalanches and glacial drainage. He plans to propose that by concluding an information-sharing agreement with China and acquiring data such as river water levels every 10 minutes, in addition to heavy rainfall forecasts, they "want to be able to issue early warnings and save people's lives." (Translation and editing / Yanagawa)