dailyO
Variety

Secret sonic attacks or clumsy spying: American diplomats in China are mysteriously falling sick

Advertisement
Pathikrit Sanyal
Pathikrit SanyalJun 09, 2018 | 15:26

Secret sonic attacks or clumsy spying: American diplomats in China are mysteriously falling sick

American diplomats and consular staff mysteriously falling sick in “hostile” foreign lands, weird noises and supposedly secret plots smell of a Cold War-era spy novel Frederick Forsyth, Ken Follett or Tom Clancy may have cooked up. Weirdly enough, however, these incidents have a very firm basis outside the world of cheesy fiction, especially in this day and age.

The New York Times recently reported instances of a mysterious ailment sickening American diplomats and their families in China that has forced the state department of US to evacuate at least two Americans. The Americans who were evacuated worked at the American consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou, as per the NYT report, and are being tested by a state department medical team, officials said, as are their colleagues and family members.

Advertisement

Affected Americans at the embassy reported experiencing dizziness, headaches, tinnitus (the perception of a faint ringing sound in the ears), fatigue, cognitive issues, visual problems, ear complaints and hearing loss, and difficulty sleeping — basically, all symptoms similar to those following concussion or minor traumatic brain injury.

And while ailments or even a minor consular epidemic (it wouldn’t be that unlikely) normally would not have rung alarm bells, what makes these incidents weirder still, is the fact that Americans have witnessed them before — not in China, but in Cuba.

headache_060818070418.jpg
Noises in the head. Photo: DailyO/Pathikrit Sanyal

Back in 2016, 24 Americans in their embassy in Cuba reported experiencing similar symptoms. What is more curious is what preceded the symptoms. Like Cuba, the Americans claim to have started experiencing symptoms following disturbing sensations of sounds and vibrations: the noises made by cicadas (a kind of insect) or static or metal sheets waving or marbles rolling around a metal funnel.

In fact, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in May, stated that the symptoms of the first American employee in Guangzhou to report being ill were “very similar and entirely consistent with the medical indications that have taken place to Americans working in Cuba.”

Advertisement

While they are worried about the 170 American diplomats or employees in Guangzhou, as well as their family members, Pompeo and the US, if at all they do suspect Chinese involvement in these mysterious happenstances, they haven’t yet reached out to the Chinese.

The Chicago Tribune reported that as per Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, the US has not yet formally raised the matter with Beijing: "If the US makes formal contact with us, China will continue necessary investigations in an earnest and responsible manner and maintain close communication and cooperation with the US."

In fact, China had offered their cooperation in the matter last month when the first of such incidents took place. Chinese officials, however, could not come up with clues about the cause of the symptoms. Of course, if things go in the same trajectory as it did with Cuba, things may just take a turn for the worse — politically, not health-wise.

Following the inexplicable illnesses of 24 American and 10 Canadian diplomats and consular employees in 2016 and 2017 — that many claimed were sonic attacks, although no viable evidence to support that was ever unearthed — President Donald Trump expelled 15 Cuban diplomats in October, 2017. China, of course, is already wary of such things. Asia Times reported Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang saying, “[So] far, we have found no reason or clue for what was reported by the US,” and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi saying, “We don’t want to see that this individual case will be magnified, complicated, or even politicised. We hope people will not associate it with other unnecessary matters.”

Advertisement

And things do seem to be headed that way. The “sonic attack” theory, despite any hard evidence, is still at play.

The US state department, in a heath alert wrote: “While in China, if you experience any unusual acute auditory or sensory phenomena accompanied by unusual sounds or piercing noises, do not attempt to locate their source. Instead, move to a location where the sounds are not present.”

Even as conjecture and banal hypotheses, does the sonic attach theory have grounds to stand on? Is this — perhaps, understandably so in the present political climate — mildly (or not so mildly) hostile nations using Cold War-era techniques to poke each other? Maybe not. “None of this has a reasonable explanation,” Fulton Armstrong, a former CIA official, told the Associated Press in 2017. “It’s just mystery after mystery after mystery.”

Of course, just because it may not be a sonic attack, does not mean the source of it is not auditory at all. According to a report in Quartz, researchers believe the symptoms can be more easily explained by “clumsy efforts to eavesdrop on American embassies and consulates using high-tech listening devices,” instead of attacking diplomats with James Bond-ish sonic weaponry that would clearly violate international laws.

According to Kevin Fu, a researcher at the University of Michigan, what may have possibly happened was an “interaction between devices emitting ultrasonic sounds too high-frequency for humans to hear”. An ultrasonic transmitter — used for spying — positioned near an ultrasonic jammer — used to prevent eavesdropping— could interact, producing painful, high-pitched noises; noises that would cause symptoms similar to concussions.

But mundane explanations, such as these, are not fun.

For Trump, the paranoid idea that China is secretly attacking American diplomats may just hold far more currency.

Last updated: June 09, 2018 | 15:26
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy