The Ministry of National Defence has awarded medals and certificates of appreciation to four Chinese military doctors who have completed a one-year humanitarian mission at Phnom Penh’s Preah Ket Mealea Military Hospital.

An award ceremony took place at the hospital on January 27, with Moeung Ponlork, director-general of the ministry’s General Department of Logistics and Finance, presenting the medals. 

Ponlork explained that the excellent results of the mission were due to the active participation of all management and staff of the hospital, as well as the mobilisation of human and financial resources, capacity building and infrastructure construction.

“Apart from our own efforts, the hospital has also enjoyed contributions from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army [PLA]. It has provided technical support for human resource development and the construction of several buildings, as well as a large amount of medical equipment,” he said.

Ponlork suggested that China continue to provide assistance.

“Human resources are an important factor, so I want the Chinese side to continue training more Cambodians and consider signing an MoU on providing specialised instruction to our medical team so they can gain more knowledge,” he said.

Tang Hao, defence attache of the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh, pledged continued support. He expressed his hopes that the hospital will become one of the most prestigious in Cambodia, and eventually the ASEAN region.

According to a statement by Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, the four recipients of the awards were all members of the 18th Chinese medical expert team from the PLA’s Naval Medical University.

They were Zhu Lei, professor of orthopaedic surgery, Sun Wei, professor of neurology, Sun Hong Biao, professor of medical imaging, and Te Ni Ge Er, professor of laboratory medicine.

The Chinese team has completed 80 surgical procedures at the hospital, and examined many more patients, both from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and the civilian population.