China to send hospital ship to aid Yolanda victims

China is sending its naval medical ship to the Philippines to provide aid to the victims of Typhoon Yolanda, which roared across the Visayas last week.

The Peace Ark Hospital Ship will be deployed, along with more than 80 doctors and nurses, to the country’s disaster areas, the Chinese Embassy said in a statement Wednesday.

China is one of the few countries with a floating military hospital, apart from the United States, which has the USNS Mercy.

China’s increased financial and relief assistance came amid international criticism of its initial $100,000 donation, a stark contrast to the millions of aid immediately provided by other nations like Australia, Japan, United Kingdom and Manila’s lone military treaty ally, the United States.

The record-breaking storm, which decimated towns and villages on Nov. 8, has killed over 4,000 thousands and affected nearly 10 million based on latest government data.

China’s reluctance to give more prompted analysts to conclude that it was due to the long-running territorial rift between Manila and Beijing over the South China Sea, parts of which are referred to as the West Philippine Sea by the Philippines.

The past several months saw Philippine and Chinese officials trading diplomatic barbs. Relations between the two neighbors were further strained when the Philippines filed a case against China before an international tribunal to question the legality of its massive territorial claim.

In what could be a bid to salvage its image and amid mounting pressure to increase aid, China announced a slew of assistance.

From a paltry donation, total Chinese aid now stands at P73 million and more help in the form of mobile houses, food and medicines, have been pledged.

“China suffered from the same super typhoon as well, which affected 4 million people and has caused huge losses and some casualties. The Chinese people are empathetic with the hardships the Philippine people are facing,” the embassy said.

“The relevant Chinese authorities and Chinese embassy are following closely the relief operations and will render further assistance to the needs of the Philippine people. More power to the Philippine people! We stand by you!”

Peace Ark, the embassy said, “is the first 10,000- ton class hospital ship in the world.” It is equipped with 217 types and 2406 units of advanced medical systems including CT Scan room, digital X-ray photographic studio, blood bank, oxygen generation station, compressed air system, and a pharmacy.

Peace Ark, the embassy said, is also equipped with a tele-medicine diagnose system, 300 ward beds of various types, including 20 ICU ward beds, 109 ward beds for serious injury, 67 burn ward beds, 94 regular ward beds, 10 beds of quarantine ward and three lifts for transferring the wounded on the board.

The embassy did not say the date of the Peace Ark’s deployment, but said the first batch of Chinese medical workers arrived on Wednesday.

A charted airplane would also bring 2,000 tents, medicines and medical devices to the disaster area on November 23.

“They have promised to leave all the medicine and medical devices to the Philippine side when they concluded their mission,” the embassy said. — KBK, GMA News