China is sending the navy’s “Peace Ark” hospital ship on a tour of the South Pacific at a time of growing competition with the United States and its allies for influence in the region.
The 14,300-metric-tonne ship will call at Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and East Timor, providing medical assistance to Chinese citizens as well as residents, the defence ministry said in a statement late on Sunday.
