Why are Ghorst and Gelt this close to me(turn 3 western province Immortal Empires campaign)

Just started this and noticed that both ghorst and gelt sre right next to me in my Cathay campaign. I always though they were, you know, in the empire. Ive seen ghorst there before but idk about gelt. They both only have the settlements on screen, so they couldnt get anything from the AI. Please help me understand.