A Newsweek map shows where China has deployed its naval hospital ships overseas for humanitarian missions as part of Beijing’s efforts to assert its influence worldwide.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why It Matters
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China operates the largest navy in the world by hull count, with more than 370 vessels, including three indigenously built 10,000-ton oceangoing hospital ships—CNS Peace ArkCNS Silk Road Ark and CNS Auspicious Ark—designed to provide medical care to civilians in peacetime and to injured troops during wartime.
Chinese naval hospital ships have been tasked with a humanitarian mission known as Harmony since 2010 as part of the Chinese military’s noncombat activities to advance national diplomatic interests. The mission aims to implement President Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative, a proposal to reform a world order dominated by the West.
Harmony Mission Details
Harmony 2010
- Date: August to November 2010
- Destinations: Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles and Bangladesh
Harmony 2011
- Date: September to December 2011
- Destinations: Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica
Harmony 2013
- Date: June to October 2013
- Destinations: Brunei, Maldives, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia
Harmony 2014
- Date: August to September 2014
- Destinations: Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea
Harmony 2015
- Date: September 2015 to January 2016
- Destinations: Australia, French Polynesia, United States, Mexico, Barbados, Grenada and Peru
Harmony 2017
- Date: July to December 2017
- Destinations: Djibouti, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania and East Timor
Harmony 2018
- Date: June 2018 to January 2019
- Destinations: Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Venezuela, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominican Republic and Ecuador
Harmony 2022
- Date: November 2022
- Destination: Indonesia
Harmony 2023
- Date: July to September 2023
- Destinations: Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and East Timor
Harmony 2024
- Date: June 2024 to January 2025
- Destinations: Seychelles, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Benin, Mauritania, Djibouti and Sri Lanka; Algeria and Singapore (technical stops)
Harmony 2025
- Date: September 2025-ongoing
- Scheduled destinations: Nauru, Fiji, Tonga, Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Papua New Guinea
What To Know
The Chinese navy has gradually expanded the scope of each Harmony mission as its hospital ships reached farther from the country, with destinations including nations and regions in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, the South Pacific and North and South America.
The Peace Arkalong with three other Chinese ships, visited Hawaii for China’s first participation in the United States-led Rim of the Pacific exercise, held from June 26 to August 1, 2014. The hospital ship began its Harmony mission immediately afterward.
During the fifth Harmony mission, conducted from September 2015 to January 2016, the Peace Ark made a stopover in San Diego, California, where Chinese naval officers conducted a medical subject-matter-expert exchange with their American counterparts.
However, the Harmony mission was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic until 2022, when the Peace Ark visited only Indonesia, marking the shortest mission in the series.
The Peace Ark conducted two deployments in 2023 and 2024 before the Silk Road Ark joined the Harmony series. Harmony 2024 saw the hospital ship visit 13 countries in Africa and South Asia, as well as make technical stops in Algeria and Singapore.
The current 11th iteration of Mission Harmony is assigned to the Silk Road Arkwhich departed China earlier this month and is scheduled to visit 10 countries in the South Pacific and Latin America during its 220-day voyage, marking the ship’s first overseas mission.
What People Are Saying
China’s defense white paper 2019 said: “China’s armed forces take an active part in the international efforts for [humanitarian assistance and disaster relief]. Military professionals are dispatched to conduct disaster relief operations in affected countries, provide relief materials and medical aid, and strengthen international exchanges in this respect.”
The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ ChinaPower project said: “In general, military diplomatic activities provide China with opportunities to improve its global image and support its broader diplomatic agenda, while simultaneously enhancing its military operational capabilities.”
What Happens Next
The Silk Road Ark is scheduled to visit Latin America as the U.S. military maintains a strong presence in the region amid growing tensions with Venezuela.
