A TCM doctor onboard Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark instructs a Kiribati nurse to perform cupping therapy (Photo by Li Yu on July 17 /Xinhua)

The Harmonious Mission 2023 that kicked off in July has brought the Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark to countries such as Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands, where it provided medical service and held cultural exchanges. As of August 23, the hospital ship had treated more than 25,000 patients and performed 111 operations, with nearly 2,000 of them trying or receiving Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment. 

On August 22, the fourth day since the Peace Ark arrived in the Solomon Islands, its TCM Department received the largest number of patients in a single day during the mission as 97 locals came for medical help.

The TCM Department has the biggest consulting room onboard the hospital ship. The 60-sq-m room, filled with the fragrance of burned wormwood, houses seven sickbeds and three medical carts that have glasses and moxibustion boxes of all sizes on them.

A 47-year-old man called Godifrey, was full of surprise when he finished the cupping session. “Wonderful!” he said with a thumb-up and asked Doctor Zhang Xuan if she could help with another aching spot. Zhang inserted silver needles into several acupoints, and the soothing effect astonished the patient again. 

What happened with Godifrey was not uncommon in the past few days wherever the hospital ship sailed. In Tonga, a local granny came onboard with a moxibustion box in hand, which she said was left to her by a Chinese doctor also onboard the Peace Ark in 2018, and which she had cherished all these years. After the recent session, TCM Doctor Dong Li presented the granny with tens of moxibustion sticks. 

In a village of Vanuatu, a 48-year-old man called Christi, who has suffered from an aching back on the right for two years, was a bit nervous when he saw the firing cup in Doctor Zhao Jing’s hand during his first ever cupping session. But after waking up from the session, he was filled with incredibility and admiration. 

TCM is not only popular among the local people, but is also praised by senior politicians of many countries. 

During the Harmonious Mission 2023, TCM Doctor Wang Lina and her colleagues have successively received Kiribati President Taneti Maamau, King of Tonga Tupou VI and Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku, Vanuatu Prime Minister Kalsakau, and Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Sogavare, as well as over a hundred other senior officials coming to either visit the hospital ship or try TCM treatment. 

In Kiribati, President Maamau, after trying acupuncture on the auricular point, said his country, lacking in doctors and medicine, is in great need of TCM therapy for its ease of operation. 

In the Solomon Islands, the Health Minister said TCM should be made a part of the country’s medical system after he observed TCM treatment. 

With China’s issuance of the Development Plan for Traditional Chinese Medicine in the 14th Five-year Plan Period in 2022, TCM has been further promoted both in China and across the world. During the latest mission, the Peace Ark hospital ship brought this ancient Chinese medical practice across oceans to the South Pacific.

Every time the Peace Ark crew went to villages or schools for medical service or cultural activities, TCM came as a standard unit, and its unique treating approaches such as acupuncture, cupping and acupoint massage were mysteriously amazing in the eyes of the patients.

After every presentation and TCM session, there would be children asking teachers at their schools or the Confucian Institute to teach them the Chinese language and culture.

A 39-year-old woman called Rachel is a female doctor in the Solomon Islands. The past few days have seen her following Doctor Zhang Xuan onboard Peace Ark, learning how to use those thin needles, the glasses and the moxibustion sticks to treat the patients. Moxibustion, acupuncture, cupping, scraping, massaging… these mysterious treating approaches have kept wowing Rachel with how effective they are.

“Needling the Shenmen acupoint on the ear helps you sleep well; acupuncture and cupping can clear inner heat and energize the patient, while moxibustion is good for health,” Rachel has obviously got the hang of it.

A Vanuatu patient is in a cupping session onboard the Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark (Photo by Li Yu on August 11 / Xinhua)

A TCM doctor onboard the Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark explains TCM treatment procedures to Kiribati medical personnel. (Photo by Li Yu on July 17 / Xinhua)