China: China is sending the navy’s “Peace Ark” hospital ship on a tour of the South Pacific at a time of growing tensions with the United States and its allies for influence in the region.

According to a statement from the defence ministry, the 14,300-metric-tonne vessel will make stops at Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and East Timor, offering medical aid to both Chinese nationals and local residents.

“It is to present our image as a responsible big country,” Navy spokesperson Mr. Liu Wensheng commented.

The ship, painted white with red crosses on its sides, employs more than 100 medical staff in 16 different clinical and auxiliary departments and can handle as many as 1,000 patients at any one time.

There are multiple operating rooms and nursing stations, as well as a blood bank, according to the state-run China Daily.

Beijing has been building closer ties with countries in the Pacific in recent years, some of which once had formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, causing concern not only in the US, Australia, and New Zealand but also within the countries themselves.

China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year and hopes to build similar ties with other Pacific countries. Its foreign minister has said relations with the Solomon Islands can serve as a model.

China’s overtures have led the US to step up its activities in the region.

In 2022, US President Mr. Joe Biden invited Pacific leaders to an unprecedented summit at the White House, pledging to triple funding for the region. It also reopened its embassy in the Solomon Islands in February after a 30-year absence. In May, it opened an embassy in Tonga and is also planning one in Vanuatu.

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