Soft Power at play

**xinhui** · 02 Sep 10,, 08:27

Chinese navy hospital ship sets sail on first overseas medical mission
English.news.cn 2010-08-31 21:20:29

Chinese navy hospital ship sets sail on first overseas medical mission

NINGBO, Zhejiang, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese navy hospital ship Peace Ark set sail from Zhoushan Port in eastern China's Zhejiang Province Tuesday to head to the Gulf of Aden on its first overseas medical mission.

During the 87-day mission, the ship will provide medical treatment to soldiers and officers serving in the Gulf of Aden, according to Guan Bolin, a senior official with the logistics department of the Chinese Navy.

The medical staff aboard the ship will also provide medical treatment to people in five African and Asian countries - Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, the Seychelles and Bangladesh.

In addition, the ship's staff plan to conduct various exchange programs with medical workers in the countries the ship calls at, said Guan, also the deputy commander of the mission.

Peace Ark is the first hospital ship in the world with a 10,000-tonne capacity. China independently developed and built it.

It has 428 soldiers, officers and medical workers aboard.

**snowhole** · 02 Sep 10,, 12:36

Originally Posted by xinhui

Peace Ark is the first hospital ship in the world with a 10,000-tonne capacity.

Huh??

**bigross86** · 02 Sep 10,, 12:42

The USNS Comfort and Mercy each displace nearly 70,000 tons. They each have a 1,000 patient capacity. I don't know what a 10,000 tonne capacity is supposed to mean

**cdude** · 03 Sep 10,, 21:29

Is it soft power or hard power? Where is the line?

But anyways, soft power is mostly a myth. Without a strong economy and the ability to project your power (both are shown in the ship), nobody gives you a boot.

**paintgun** · 04 Sep 10,, 00:34

It is a term used liberally by the journalist
Personally i see little connection of the hospital ship deployment with the title itself

PLAN sure finds the Gulf of Aden as a nice place to train, no concerns, legitimate intents, and just the right deployment time/range
What is the chance of ex-Varyag visiting Gulf of Aden after operational status?

**Officer of Engineers** · 04 Sep 10,, 03:56

Originally Posted by paintgun

It is a term used liberally by the journalist
Personally i see little connection of the hospital ship deployment with the title itself

PLAN sure finds the Gulf of Aden as a nice place to train, no concerns, legitimate intents, and just the right deployment time/range
What is the chance of ex-Varyag visiting Gulf of Aden after operational status?

ex-VARYAG? Operational status? Do you know what they've done to her?

**paintgun** · 04 Sep 10,, 13:39

no Sir, I don't know
Apart of the long but obvious building process and preparation of the ex-Varyag, i do not know if PLAN have other plans for it, as we all expect PLAN to put it into a operational ship, either a combat ship or a training ship
Recent photos show that she is far from ready, and I realize it will be years before operational status, or perhaps you mean she will be used for systems testing and training platform only not into an operational ship?

**Officer of Engineers** · 04 Sep 10,, 15:31

They've removed the island and cut open a big hole on the side. What that essentially means is that this ship cannot be rebuilt to original specs, if it ever could have been. Now, it is possible that the Chinese could have redesigned the ship to suit their needs but since they don't know how to build a carrier in the first place, I don't have the confidence that they can rebuild one.

**Skywatcher** · 05 Sep 10,, 02:49

Originally Posted by Officer of Engineers

They've removed the island and cut open a big hole on the side. What that essentially means is that this ship cannot be rebuilt to original specs, if it ever could have been. Now, it is possible that the Chinese could have redesigned the ship to suit their needs but since they don't know how to build a carrier in the first place, I don't have the confidence that they can rebuild one.

Then what's the radar installation for? A dry run for testing out equipment to be put on a domestic carrier, sir?

**xinhui** · 06 Sep 10,, 03:34

*. Joseph S. Nye, Jr (don't waste time with his book "the power play" it is horrible
*. There is nothing to hide behind in the Gulf of Aden, every thing PLAN is doing there is being monitored. Their communication, their chain of command, their readiness -- all open book.

Originally Posted by paintgun

It is a term used liberally by the journalist
Personally i see little connection of the hospital ship deployment with the title itself

PLAN sure finds the Gulf of Aden as a nice place to train, no concerns, legitimate intents, and just the right deployment time/range
What is the chance of ex-Varyag visiting Gulf of Aden after operational status?