Chinese naval hospital ship arrives in Tonga for week-long visit

The Chinese naval hospital ship, Silk Road Ark, arrived at Tonga's Nuku'alofa Port on Monday, starting a seven-day visit featuring medical services and cultural activities during its "Mission Harmony 2025."

This is the fourth visit to Tonga by a Chinese naval hospital ship on Mission Harmony.

Tonga's acting Prime Minister Taniela Fusimalohi, along with military and political dignitaries, the Chinese ambassador to Tonga, local residents, representatives of overseas Chinese and Chinese enterprises, came to the pier to greet the vessel.

During its visit to Tonga, the Silk Road Ark will provide medical services on the ship, conduct academic exchanges on war injury rescue with the Tongan Navy, hold medical forums with Tongan hospitals, dispatch an onboard helicopter and multiple medical teams for clinic programs in local communities and on outer islands, and send teams to local schools for cultural exchange.

The navies of the two countries will also hold joint exercises in the waters off the port.

In February 2022, a Chinese flotilla comprising two naval ships arrived in Tonga to deliver more than 1,400 tons of disaster relief supplies after the South Pacific island nation was devastated by a massive volcanic eruption and ensuing tsunami.

The hospital ship Peace Ark visited Tonga in 2014, 2018, and 2023, providing over 15,000 medical services to the local residents. 参考来源：ID: 8447785 "Mission Harmony 2025" marks the 11th iteration of Mission Harmony since 2010 and the first overseas mission for Silk Road Ark, China's second domestically designed and constructed 10,000-tonne-class standard ocean-going hospital ship.

The 220-day mission, the longest in the series, will see the ship visit around a dozen nations, including Nauru, Fiji, Tonga, Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Papua New Guinea, to provide humanitarian medical services.

Chinese naval hospital ship arrives in Tonga for week-long visit

No damage has been found at facilities containing nuclear material in Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday, based on analysis of the latest available satellite imagery.

The imagery indicated no radiological release risk at the time, the IAEA said in a social media post.

Damage can be seen at two buildings near the Isfahan nuclear site, while at the Natanz site, no additional impact was detected after the previously reported damage at its entrances, the agency said. No impacts were detected at other nuclear sites, including Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

"IAEA remains in constant contact with national nuclear safety regulators in the Middle East. So far, no elevation of radiation detected," the IAEA said, adding that the nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates and research reactors in Jordan and Syria continue to operate normally.

In the social media post, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed the "paramount importance" of maintaining regional nuclear safety and security during the military conflict.

The United States and Israel on Saturday launched "major combat operations" against Iran. On Tuesday, the IAEA said that some recent damage had been confirmed at Iran's Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant.

IAEA sees no radiological release risk in Iran amid ongoing conflict