Chinese Hospital Ship Visits Jamaica as US Gunboats Ply Caribbean

A Chinese hospital ship quietly docked in hurricane-hit Jamaica this week, projecting soft power into the heart of the Caribbean where a US armada is conducting a controversial anti-narcotics mission targeted at Venezuela.

The Silk Road Ark, a massive Chinese Navy vessel with 300 hospital beds and some 100 doctors and support staff, is a potent symbol of Beijing’s outreach to the Caribbean region, one of the last bastions of diplomatic support for its rival Taiwan.