A Chinese hospital ship quietly docked in hurricane-hit Jamaica this week, projecting soft power into the heart of the Caribbean, where a US armada is conducting a controversial anti-narcotics mission targeted at Venezuela.
The Silk Road Ark, a massive Chinese navy vessel with 300 hospital beds, and about 100 doctors and support staff, is a symbol of Beijing’s outreach to the Caribbean region, one of the last bastions of diplomatic support for its rival Taiwan.
The floating hospital on Thursday arrived at the Port of Montego Bay, as the island struggled to recover from Hurricane Melissa. The storm tore across Jamaica in late October, killing more than 45 people, destroying hospitals and causing at least US$9 billion in damage.
Photo: AP
Jamaica very much needs the vessel “because of the challenges we face,” Jamaican Minister of Health and Wellness Christopher Tufton said. “This is another big development that shows the spirit of friendship and partnership.”
The US has also played a prominent role in Jamaica’s recovery efforts, with US President Donald Trump’s administration pledging more than US$22 million in aid.
However, the US Navy’s two largest medical ships, the USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort, are docked at US ports.
In the hours and days after the hurricane, US Chinook helicopters criss-crossed the sky dropping food and water for communities cut off by the storm, said Wayne Chen, chairman of the southern regional health authority.
“The vast majority of Jamaicans have been very happy and gratified to see the outpouring of international assistance both from our traditional friends, governments, foundations and private groups,” Chen said.
El Salvador sent more than 300 troops to help with the clean up, while the UK and Venezuela provided tangible aid, he said.
Beijing’s timing was fortuitous. The Silk Road Ark left China in early September and had already planned to visit Jamaica, along with Barbados, Brazil, Peru, Chile and other countries in the region, but it adjusted its schedule as the hurricane toll became clear.
The USNS Comfort, by contrast, finished its tour of the Caribbean — but not Jamaica — in August.
China’s hospital ship will perform cataract and hernia surgeries, CT scans and ultrasounds, and bloodwork diagnostics, Jamaican health authorities said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
RSS