Reuters Hanoi: US Vice President Kamala Harris pushed ahead with a trip to Vietnam on Tuesday after delaying the visit over concerns due to an unexplained health incident potentially related to the mysterious Havana Syndrome.
Harris, eager to woo allies in a bid to counter China, arrived in the Southeast Asian country’s capital after a three-hour delay in Singapore and an unusual statement from the US embassy in Vietnam blaming “a recent possible anomalous health incident” for the delay.
“Anomalous health incident” is a term the US government often uses to describe Havana Syndrome, a condition with symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, migraines and memory lapses, so named because it first was reported by American officials based in the US embassy in Cuba in 2016.
“The vice president’s office was made aware of a report of a recent possible anomalous health incident in Hanoi, Vietnam,” the US embassy statement said.
“After careful assessment, the decision was made to continue with the Vice President’s trip,” the statement said, without elaborating.
A spokesperson for Harris declined to comment on the reason for the delay.
Some 200 U.S. officials and kin, including CIA officers, have been sickened “Havana syndrome,” CIA director William Burns has said. A US National Academy of Sciences panel in December found that a plausible theory is that “directed energy” beams caused the syndrome, he said.
The CIA sees a “very strong possibility” that the syndrome is intentionally caused, and that Russia could be responsible, but is withholding definitive conclusions pending further investigation. Moscow denies involvement.
Vietnam says it picks no sides
The incident came as Washington faces icy relations with another global competitor, China.
As Harris’s trip to Vietnam was delayed, Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh held an unannounced meeting with Chinese ambassador Xiong Bo, during which Chinh said Vietnam does not align itself with one country against any other.
