US Vice President Kamala Harris Delays Vietnam Trip After Mystery “Health Incident”

Hanoi (Reuters):

Vice President Kamala Harris pushed forward with a visit to Vietnam on Tuesday after delaying the go to over considerations because of a well being incident probably associated to the mysterious Havana syndrome.

Harris arrived within the Southeast Asian nation’s capital after a three-hour delay in Singapore that the US authorities blamed on studies that somebody in Hanoi could have been focused by the Havana syndrome, a situation of unknown origin with signs together with dizziness, nausea, migraines and reminiscence lapses.

The incident upstaged a bid by President Joe Biden’s prime deputy to woo the allies Washington hopes will assist it problem China’s assertive overseas coverage within the area.

Beijing, in the meantime, tried to stage its personal diplomatic coup with a shock assembly in Vietnam and a donation of two million COVID-19 vaccines to the nation.

White Home press secretary Jen Psaki stated the Havana syndrome case was reported in Vietnam earlier than Harris’ departure however not confirmed. A security evaluation was executed earlier than sending Harris to the nation, she stated.

“The Vice President’s workplace was made conscious of a report of a current doable anomalous well being incident in Hanoi,” the native US Embassy stated.

Some 200 US officers and household, together with CIA officers, have been sickened by “Havana syndrome,” CIA Director William Burns has stated.

A US Nationwide Academy of Sciences panel in December discovered {that a} believable idea is that “directed vitality” beams precipitated the syndrome, which is so named as a result of it first was reported by American officers primarily based within the U.S. embassy in Cuba in 2016.

The CIA sees a “very robust risk” that the syndrome is deliberately precipitated, and that Russia may very well be accountable, however is withholding definitive conclusions pending additional investigation. Moscow denies involvement.

Vietnam Says It Picks No Sides

The incident got here as Washington faces icy relations with one other international competitor, China.

As Harris’s journey to Vietnam was delayed, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held the unannounced assembly with Chinese language Ambassador Xiong Bo, throughout which Chinh stated Vietnam doesn’t align itself with one nation towards some other.

Earlier on Tuesday, Harris had accused Beijing of coercion and intimidation to again claims within the South China Sea, her most pointed feedback on China throughout a go to to Southeast Asia, a area she stated is essential to US safety.

“The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam adheres to an unbiased, self-reliant, multilateral, and numerous overseas coverage and is a accountable member of the worldwide group,” the Vietnamese authorities stated in a press release.

“Vietnam doesn’t align itself with one nation towards one other,” it stated.

Territorial disputes within the South China Sea must be settled in keeping with worldwide legislation and “high-level widespread sense,” it stated.

The US administration has known as rivalry with China “the largest geopolitical take a look at” of the century.

“The truth that China’s ambassador insisted on a gathering with the Vietnamese prime minister shortly earlier than Harris landed exhibits how anxious Beijing is that its communist neighbor could tilt towards the US,” stated Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia professional at Washington’s Heart for Strategic and Worldwide Research.

Through the assembly, Chinh thanked the ambassador for the vaccine donation. It was not instantly clear which vaccine China had donated.

Vietnam had efficiently contained the coronavirus for many of final 12 months however since April has been coping with a big COVID-19 outbreak in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, pushed by the extremely contagious Delta variant of the virus. Slightly below 2% of its 98 million persons are absolutely vaccinated.

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