A fruitful outcome of the visit by Ark Peace
Ark Peace, the Chinese Naval Hospital Ship, concluded her third visit to Tonga on 4th August 2023 after one-week medical services. But the fond memories of her visit linger on, and people hailed her visit as “a story of our times” and “a milestone of the friendship between Tonga and China”. Ark Peace has written a new chapter in the friendship between the Chinese people and the Tongan people.
During her 7-day stay in Tonga, Ark Peace provided 6,895 medical services, including 5,800 on the ship and 1,095 at three health centers of Mu’a, Vaini & Nukunuku, had 39 surgeries, and offered complete physical examinations for 103 people. Meanwhile, the Chinese medical experts from Ark Peace and their Tongan counterparts held joint diagnosis and treatments in Vaiola Hospital. Ark Peace sent eight medical experts to ‘Eua via an ambulance helicopter and provided medical consultations & treatments for 333 villagers.
Besides, the Ark Peace team carried out battlefield first-aid skills demonstrations to His Majesty’s Armed Forces (HMAF) service members, and conducted operational exchanges with Tongan officers and soldiers on self-rescue and mutual aid techniques such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), endotracheal intubation and the use of AEDs at Masefield Naval Base. Both navies also held a joint training that mainly focused on formation maneuvering, communication exercise, and maritime-and-aerial search and rescue operations in the waters off the Nukualofa port.
The Tongan people benefited from Ark Peace’s visit
Ark Peace is staffed with masterly medical professionals and equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities, like CT, DR, color Doppler ultrasonography, gastrointestinal endoscopy, automatic biochemical analyzer, multifunctional monitor, ventilator, autoclave cabinet, etc., with up to over 2,600 sets of medical devices of nearly 250 different types. Thousands of Tongan people had their health examinations and medical diagnoses with the uses of the advanced medical equipment. In addition, the Traditional Chinese Medicine is so well-known and popular among Tongans that many people had acupuncture and cupping treatments on the hospital ship. It goes without saying that it is the Tongan people who benefited most from the visit by Ark Peace.
Strong support from the Royal Families and His Majesty’s Government, HMAF and the people
During the visit by Ark Peace, everything was well organized with the joint efforts from the Chinese side and the Tongan side for providing as many medical services as possible to the Tongan people. I would like to express my appreciation to people from all walks of life for the strong support and close collaboration for the successful visit by Ark Peace. Especially, my heartfelt thanks go to the Royal Families, His Majesty’s Government and His Majesty’s Armed Forces for their leadership, guidance and care.
