Chinese hospital ship wraps up visit to Sri Lanka, completing Mission Harmony-2024

Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark, which is on the Mission Harmony-2024, wrapped up its seven-day visit to Sri Lanka on Saturday, marking the successful completion of all medical service tasks for the mission.

As the Peace Ark departed from the Colombo Port at around 10:00 local time (04:30 GMT), the Sri Lankan authorities hosted a farewell ceremony at the dock, attended by a diverse group of dignitaries and well-wishers. The gathering included Sri Lankan officials and staff from the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, as well as representatives of Chinese-funded institutions and overseas Chinese. During the seven-day visit, the hospital ship treated more than 4,700 people, conducted 2,247 auxiliary medical examinations and tests and performed 51 surgeries, receiving heartfelt welcome and appreciation from all walks of life of the Sri Lankan society.

The crew members have conducted a series of medical exchange activities with Sri Lanka's national and military medical, educational and experimental facilities.

In addition, representatives of the crew visited the Sri Lankan naval base for cultural exchange activities, holding a dragon boat friendly race with Sri Lankan naval officers and soldiers at Colombo's Diyawanna Rowing Center.

"I believe that, in the future, naval officers and soldiers from both countries will have more opportunities to learn from each other and exchange ideas, further strengthening the development of the traditional friendship of our two countries," said Zhang Chijian, a team member of the Mission Harmony-2024. Since setting sail from a military port in Zhoushan City in east China's Zhejiang Province on June 16 for Mission Harmony-2024, the Peace Ark has visited 13 countries, providing medical services to over 82,000 people. Its crew has engaged in cooperative exchange activities in various fields, including healthcare, military, culture and sports, with the visited countries, demonstrating the boundless love of the Chinese military for peace and love. "It's a very good opportunity, and I'm very glad to be in this Ark Peace, because this mission is very much good and is very much respectable to all the third world countries. It's very good, so I hope you will continue this good work in [the] future, also. China is always there to help us. So, as a military officer, I'm very respectful for that, and I'm very grateful," said Dinusha, Sri Lankan Navy Lieutenant Colonel.

There are over 100 personnel on board the maritime hospital, featuring 17 clinical departments and 5 auxiliary diagnostic departments.

The Peace Ark is the first domestically designed and built standard ocean-going hospital ship in China.

Chinese hospital ship wraps up visit to Sri Lanka, completing Mission Harmony-2024

The United Nations has made every effort to uphold global peace, advance shared development, and foster societal advancement, said Chen Xu, China's permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva.

Speaking in an exclusive interview to China Global Television Network (CGTN), Chen commented on the role the UN has played in 2024.

"I believe the United Nations has tried its best to preserve world peace, to promote common development and social progress. So the balance sheet, I should say, is somewhat mixed. On the one hand, it brings people together to challenges and the difficulties to find the solutions. For instance, it adopted a number of General Assembly resolutions on Middle East and Palestine and quite a number of occasions with overwhelming majority. While in the same time, it's really a pity that the Security Council fails to make decisive moves for a ceasefire and for humanitarian relief," he said.

In addition, Chen noted that the UN Office in Geneva has its unique role, and China has delivered a positive record in human rights protection this year.

"Indeed, Geneva is such an important and unique platform. Compared with New York, it's more flat and is spread out to all sectors of our daily life. So we have to look after almost 40 international agencies. We put forward our initiatives, including in the last session of the Human Rights Council, we offered two draft resolutions which were eventually adopted by consensus. One is an empowerment of women. The other one is the accessibility to all. And I was very much encouraged by the larger co-sponsorship on the empowerment of women. And then we have another important draft resolution that is the peaceful use of technologies. It was adopted in New York, but the consultation was conducted here in Geneva," he said.

UN tries its best to preserve world peace: Chinese ambassador in Geneva