Chinese Hospital Ship in Mumbai. via IDRW.org.

via IDRW.org.

China has intensified its military diplomacy with India with a 300-bed Navy hospital, ‘Peace Ark’ of the People’s Liberation Army, which arrived at the Mumbai port on Tuesday afternoon. The ship will provide six days of medical treatment after handling 1,800 patients during a seven-day stay at the Karachi port.
The decision to send the hospital ship, which has been touring the world since 2007, was finalized during the recent visit of defense minister AK Antony to Beijing. India had earlier tried its brand of military diplomacy when an aircraft laden with medical goods reached the earthquake affected area of Sichuan province in China in 2008.
The ‘Peace Ark’ ship will also help connect the Chinese government with its citizens by providing medical services to Chinese people working in India besides carrying out exchanges and cooperation with Indian counterparts.
The hospital ship, which has eight operation theatres and 20 intensive care units, is an emergency medical support platform independently designed and built by China, official sources said. It is capable of providing treatment and evacuation to injured and sick personnel on the sea, and medical support for troops stationed at islands.

The Chinese are playing chess while we play checkers.

Did you know that India suffered tremendously from heavy flooding recently?  Did you know that Indian Troops died while trying to provide assistance to their stranded victims?  Did you know that it occurred during one of their holy times and that they even activated some of their Engineer Corps to put in place bridges so that their pilgrims could make it to their holy sites?

Additionally did you know that China recently was engaged in a border clash with India?

What does all this have to do with the US?

To my knowledge we didn't assist with any of those issues.  Yet China, which has an ongoing dispute with India, a dispute that is causing India to start gearing up to defend itself against Chinese aggression is now on the receiving end of their aid.

More importantly that aid is not going through the Indian government and then to the people but directly from the Chinese military to the population.

Simply brilliant.