China on a mission
Peace Ark, a hospital ship from China, is visiting Fiji for the second time in four years.
THE Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Navy) hospital ship Peace Ark docked at Suva’s Kings Wharf in Fiji on Thursday to offer humanitarian medical services for a week, having recently done so in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Tonga as part of a South Pacific tour.
The tour is being referred to as Mission Harmony 2018.
While in Vanuatu from July 2330, Peace Ark dispatched onsite medical teams to local hospitals, villages, communities, schools and a centre for the disabled to provide medical treatment, health knowledge dissemination, antiepidemic and equipment repairs while also conducting consultations and providing treatment on board.
It is expected similar services will be offered in Fiji.
Peace Ark task group commander Guan Bailin said the ship carried 120 medical staff in 18 specialised departments.
He said between 600 and 800 outpatients were seen each day.
Yang Zhaohui, charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Suva, said the visit would consolidate and strengthen the traditional friendship between China and South Pacific countries.
The ship also visited Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea in 2014 on a medical assistance mission.
Yang encouraged Fijians to make use of the free medical services on offer over the next few days.
“Serving as a peace messenger, the Peace Ark embodies China’s new security concept with peace, development and cooperation,” he said.
With a fullload displacement of more than 14,000 tons, Peace Ark, commissioned in 2008, is equipped with some 300 beds, eight operating rooms, and more than 200 types of medical devices such as ECG, Computed Tomography (CT), colour ultrasonic and an automatic biochemistry analyser. — Fiji Sun Online/Fiji Times/Vanuatu Independent