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

China

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

2024-12-28 20:57 Last Updated At：21:37

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.

Shenzhou-23 astronauts enter Tiangong space station, meet Shenzhou-21 crew

The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou-23 spaceship have entered the country's Tiangong space station and met with their astronaut colleagues early Monday morning, as they now begin an in-orbit crew handover.

Mission commander Zhu Yangzhu and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying successfully entered the station's core module Tianhe after the spaceship made a fast automated rendezvous and docked with the Tianhe module at 02:45 (Beijing Time) on Monday.

The three Shenzhou-21 crew members opened the hatch at 05:13 (Beijing Time) and greeted the new arrivals, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The six astronauts then took group pictures for the eighth in-orbit get-together in China's aerospace history.

Notably, one of the Shenzhou-23 crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

The Shenzhou-23 spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 23:08 (Beijing Time) on Sunday.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.