Healing or influence? China sends naval ship to Caribbean

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Transcript

00:00China's People's Liberation Army Navy is sending a ship to America's doorstep.

00:05It's not a warship, but a medical one.

00:07Still, the craft is likely to ruffle some feathers while on its healing mission.

00:14The Chinese naval ship Silk Road Arc is on its way to the Caribbean

00:19as part of the country's Mission Harmony 2025.

00:23Since 2010, China conducted 11 Mission Harmony exercises,

00:27which Beijing says are designed to, quote,

00:31strengthen cooperation between China and relevant countries,

00:35offer more public safety resources,

00:37and further advance concepts of a community with a shared future for mankind.

00:43Mission Harmony 2025 will see the Silk Road Arc visit around a dozen countries,

00:49including Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others to provide humanitarian medical services.

00:56Commissioned in August of 2024, the Silk Road Arc is China's second domestically designed and developed

01:02ocean-faring hospital ship, and it's bigger than the last.

01:07It displaces more than 10,000 metric tons and has room on board for 300 patients.

01:13Patients receive their care in one or more of the 14 clinical departments

01:17and seven auxiliary diagnostic units on board the Silk Road Arc.

01:22Those resources mean the ship's medical crew can perform 60 different medical procedures,

01:28including general surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, and others.

01:34So why would anyone be upset with China for sending a medical ship on a humanitarian mission?

01:40It's about influence.

01:41For decades, the Caribbean Sea, as well as South and Central America,

01:46were seen as squarely within the United States' sphere of influence.

01:51But times change, and the People's Republic of China is making it a priority to expand its own sphere of influence,

01:58which has impacts on the way America conducts its trade and diplomacy.

02:04Things are especially tense right now in the Caribbean,

02:06as the United States is currently fighting cartels in the region,

02:10cartels which were recently designated as narco-terrorist organizations.

02:16So the presence of a ship from the Chinese Navy,

02:19whether on a medical mission or not,

02:21is going to raise eyebrows and demand a little more scrutiny.

02:25The same is true when the United States sends its two floating hospitals,

02:30the USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort,

02:34on humanitarian missions in regions near adversarial waters.

02:37For more reporting like this, download the Straight Arrow News app today.