Harris in Vietnam despite US diplomats reporting ‘Havana Syndrome’
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Aug 25 (EFE).- United States Vice President Kamala Harris began Wednesday her official visit to Vietnam, despite American diplomats there reportedly suffering an “anomalous health incident” first denounced by US officials in Havana, Cuba.
Official US sources told American television networks NBC and CBS that at least two diplomats will require evacuation from Vietnam after experiencing the so-called “Havana Syndrome” last weekend. These ailments were first denounced by American foreign service members in 2016 on the Latin American island.
The alleged sonic attacks, from which victims claim to hear a piercing sound and feel intense pressure in the face, have since also been reported in American missions in Austria, China, Russia and Germany.
Harris’s plane departed Singapore about three hours later than scheduled and landed in Hanoi, Vietnam at 9:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday where she was welcomed by Vietnamese government and US embassy representatives in the country.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing that “there was an assessment done of the safety of the vice president, and there was a decision made that she could continue to travel along with her staff.”
The US vice president began her official agenda with a courtesy call to Vietnamese counterpart Vo Thi Anh Xuan, and is scheduled to later meet the country’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh before co-chairing the inauguration of a Southeast Asia disease control center.
The White House said Harris and Vietnamese leaders will discuss security cooperation, including Vietnam’s territorial tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea, improving supply chains in the context of the pandemic, the climate crisis and multilateral cooperation.
As she has done since she began her Southeast Asia tour Monday in Singapore, Harris will allegedly emphasize the region’s importance for the Joe Biden Administration, following China’s growing influence there in recent years. EFE
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