On 13 August, 2018, the Chinese naval hospital ship Ark Peace arrived at Port Nukualofa, capital of the Kingdom of Tonga, the fourth stop of Mission Harmony 2018, starting an eight-day good-will visit and humanitarian medical service. Ark Peace paid her first successful visit to Tonga on the same date four years ago.
The Tongan government hosted a grand welcome ceremony at the Vuna Wharf. Honorable Semisi Sika, Acting Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers, His Excellency Wang Baodong, Chinese ambassador to Tonga, and representatives of the Chinese community and institutions greeted the Ark Peace at the wharf. To show their warm welcome to the ship, the Tongan royal military band played the national anthems of both China and Tonga, the local people presented garlands to the commanders of the Mission and performed local dances.
At the ceremony, the Acting Prime Minister Sika warmly welcomed Ark Peace’s second visit to Tonga on behalf of the Tongan government and conveyed his appreciation to the ship for providing medical services to the Tongan people. He said that this year marks the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relation between China and Tonga, the visit by Ark Peace to Tonga after the State Visit of King Tupou VI to China will further people-to-people exchanges and mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, and promote the in-depth development of the relations between the two armed forces and the two countries.
Ambassador Wang Baodong highlighted that on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Tonga, Ark Peace’s visit to Tonga is of great importance. It will help strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation in health, military and other fields between the two countries, enhance the friendship between the two peoples and promote greater achievements in the development of the China-Tonga Strategic Partnership.
The Commander of Mission Rear Admiral Guan Bailin said that Ark Peace will benefit more Tongan people as always with sincere love, exquisite medical skills and deliberate services and fulfill with concrete action the important consensus reached by the two Heads of State in Beijing last March, so that the bilateral strategic partnership could achieve greater development from a new historical starting point and the two peoples will have more sense of gains from the bilateral exchange and cooperation.
After the welcome ceremony, the VIPs from the Tongan side were invited to tour the ship. They repeatedly praised the professional layout and state-of-the-art medical facilities. In the afternoon, the ship started to provide medical services to the general public of Tonga.
