The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a mega cross-sea highway connecting the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Zhongshan and Guangzhou, will begin pilot operation on Sunday.
The core transportation hub project in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will shorten the travel time from Zhongshan to Shenzhen from the current two hours to 30 minutes.
With a total length of 24 kilometers, the link consists of one undersea tunnel, two cross-sea bridges and two artificial islands, making it one of the most challenging cross-sea cluster projects in the world.
The link's undersea tunnel, which is 6.8 kilometers long, has a central pipe gallery that integrates facilities for power supply, water supply and drainage, firefighting, communication and intelligent control, and serves as an emergency exit.
The five-kilometer-long central pipe gallery is laid with hundreds of cables and pipes of various kinds with over 10,000 sets of equipment installed.
The tunnel is equipped with a large number of intelligent devices to ensure its safe and stable operation, including 14 robots, dual-wavelength flame detectors and Beidou satellite navigation signal simulators.
The robots regularly patrol along prescribed routes in the emergency exit and cable channel to monitor the operation of equipment and environment in the pipe gallery.
They can also direct traffic with built-in loudspeakers in cases of car accidents while also filming the scene and transmitting the image to the remote control center in a real time manner.
"We are the first to invent a horizontal smoke exhaust pipe system at the top of the immersed tube undersea tunnel, which improves the smoke exhaust efficiency by 42 percent. We have also established a new firefighting and smoke exhaust technology system for ultra-wide and interchangeable undersea tunnels, effectively ensuring safe fire evacuations," said Ma Ershun, deputy director of the link's management center.
The tunnel is flanked with lights that can change color based on temperature and traffic conditions. In emergencies, the light strips would be red, yellow and green from near to far to guide the evacuation.
The tunnel is also installed with intelligent lighting control devices that can automatically adjust light brightness to levels that are safe and comfortable.
Shenzhen-Zhongshan mega cross-sea link to begin pilot operation
A delegation from the Taliban-led Afghan government is currently in Doha to attend the third round of UN-convened talks on Afghanistan scheduled for Sunday to Monday, hoping to take it as an opportunity to foster understanding between their government and the wider international community.
Key issues on the meeting's agenda include frozen Afghan assets and the Taliban's counter-narcotics policies.
Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson for the caretaker government, led a six-member delegation to the meeting. Before heading to Doha, he briefed the media on Saturday about his government's approach toward the gathering.
Answering a question from China Global Television Network (CGTN), Mujahid outlined the state of his country's ties with the rest of the world, including some Western countries.
"We don't have problems with all of the world, but we want to reach a solution and maintain mutual understanding with some countries that have been pursuing obsessive policies toward Afghanistan. Afghanistan has faced financial challenges, and its business affairs have been impacted by the sanctions that have been imposed. This needs to be addressed," he said.
A group of Afghan activists from diverse backgrounds, mostly based in the country, wrote an open letter on Sunday to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Envoys for Afghanistan, and the Interim Taliban Administration.
The letter addresses key concerns regarding Afghanistan's current socio-economic and political landscape under the Taliban-led government. It highlights severe economic challenges, exacerbated by international actions such as funding cuts and banking restrictions, alongside internal Taliban policies hindering the economic participation of women and educational opportunities for girls.
The activists urge participants of the third Doha meeting to increase aid to the Afghan people, pave the way for unfreezing the Afghanistan Central Bank's assets, and assist Afghan businesses and women.
"I think Afghanistan really deserves right now a chance to be reconnected to the world, to be reintegrated into the international community's framework and to be able to do business with the rest of the world just like any other country. And I think it's an absolute right of the Afghan people, regardless of any other political agendas or issues that we have in Afghanistan," said Muhammad Sulaiman Bin Shah, founder and CEO of Catalysts Afghanistan.
Kabul residents urge both the Taliban and international community to pay attention to the needs of the Afghan people and avoid confusing humanitarian with political issues.
"As we all know, the political and economic situation of Afghanistan is not leading to progress due to Afghanistan's frozen assets. I urge the international community to find a solution at this meeting, and unfreeze Afghan money," said Mushtaba Atayi, a Kabul resident.
"We want the Taliban-led government to reopen schools and universities for sisters, based on Islamic law, and provide the educational environment for them. That would be a very good step," another resident Asimullah Hamdard said.
Delegation of Afghan gov't attends Doha meeting of special envoys
