US diplomats in China hit by mystery illness
■ China denies complaint from US; fears of unexplained issues that started in Cuba surface
Washing ton/ Be i j ing , June 7: The US is bringing back a group of diplomats from China for further medical evaluation over concerns they were suffering from a mysterious illness similar to those reported by its personnel in Cuba, an official said on Thursday.
A medical team was sent to Guangzhou after an American employee who had experienced strange sound attacks was diagnosed with brain trauma last month, reviving fears that US rival has developed some kind of acoustic or microwave device. On May 23, the US state department said that one of the workers at its consulate in Guangzhou had experienced a “subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure”. The symptoms, US officials said, were consistent with what US diplomats experienced in Cuba last year.
US officials are worried that their diplomats have been subjected to targeted attacks involving odd sounds, leading to symptoms similar to those “following concussion or minor brain injury.” The cases in China have broadened the medical mystery that started in 2016, when US embassy employees began falling ill in Havana. In all, 24 of them were stricken with headaches, nausea, hearing loss, cognitive issues and other symptoms after saying they heard odd sounds.
Relevant authorities of China have conducted investigations and given the feedback to the United States. We haven’t found the cause or the clues that led to the situation — Hua Chunying, Chinese govt spokesperson
Guangzhou, June 7: A US medical team was screening more Ameri- cans who work in a southern Chinese city as the State Department confirmed evacuating a number of government workers who experienced une- xplained health issues like those that have hurt US personnel in Cuba and China.
The evacuations of the workers in Guangzhou followed medical testing that revealed they might have been affected. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said “a number of individuals” were brought to the US but didn’t say how many were affected or evacuated. One case in Guangzhou had been disclosed last month.
She said tests are being offered to “any personnel who have noted concerning symptoms or wanted baseline screening.”
The incidents have raised fears the unexplained issues that started in Cuba in 2016 have expanded. The US government has deemed those incidents “specific attacks” on American workers but hasn’t publicly identified a cause or culprit. Most of the incidents were accompanied by bizarre, unexplained sounds that initially led US investigators to suspect a sonic attack.
Symptoms have included dizziness, headaches and an inability to concentrate. The American government worker who was removed from China earlier reported “subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure.”
Security guards outside the Guangzhou consulate checked reporter’s IDs on Thursday and told them to leave the area and not attempt to talk to consulate staff.
Asked about the latest incidents, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the US had not formally raised the matter with Beijing.
“If the US makes formal contact with us, China will continue necessary investigations and maintain close communication and cooperation with the US,” Hua said at a news conference.
China had earlier said it had looked into the first case, but came up with no clues about the cause of the symptoms. The New York Times identified the latest American employee evacuated as Mark A. Lenzi, a security engineering officer who left on Wednesday night with his wife and two children.
Lenzi told the Times he resided in the same apartment tower as the officer evacuated in April and suffered in recent months from what he called “neurological symptoms.”
Lenzi’s apartment was in one of several highrise buildings in The Canton Place featuring restaurants and galleries spaced around a central plaza. Another diplomat who reported symptoms was at a different upscale building near the consulate. People working in Canton Place, a few kilometres from the consulate said they were just hearing about the incidents, reflecting a lack of coverage in China’s entirely state- controlled media.
Aled Williams, a British teacher at a kindergarten said the reports sounded “sci- fi- ish.”
“Hard to get my head around how it works,” he said. “Better watch myself.”