Chinese navy hospital ship docks in Venezuela amid crisis
Venezuela’s Defence Minister said the Chinese boat’s visit was part of the government’s ‘strategic defence operation’
A Chinese navy hospital ship docked near Venezuela’s capital on Saturday as the OPEC nation’s deepening economic crisis garners the attention of the US and other world powers.
Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino was on hand to greet the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s ship, the Peace Ark, on its latest stop as part of the 11-nation “Mission Harmony” tour announced in June.
“This is how you undertake diplomacy in the world,” Padrino said, “with concrete actions of cooperation and not stoking the false voices of those who beat the drum of war.”
Interest in the goodwill visit has been building since the Pentagon announced in August it was sending its own hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, to neighbouring Colombia to provide free medical treatment for thousands of Venezuelan migrants fleeing their homes amid widespread food and medicine shortages.
US Defence Secretary James Mattis, in a visit to Colombia last month, called the ship’s deployment a humanitarian mission to deal with the fallout of President Nicolas Maduro’s mismanagement of the economy.
The United Nations estimates that 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled the crisis-torn country in recent years, mainly to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.
