US diplomacy has halted spy expansion from China with bases abroad: Blinken

President Joe Biden’s administration has taken diplomatic steps that have slowed an effort by China to project military power around the world, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday ahead of a visit to Beijing later this week.

The top US diplomat was asked at a news conference about Washington’s response to a report by the Wall Street Journal last week quoting US officials as saying a new spy effort was underway in Cuba.

Blinken said that China’s efforts in Cuba were part of a global effort by Beijing to expand its presence abroad, and that US actions to address this since President Joe Biden came to power in January 2021 have produced results. , without specifying which ones.

“Our experts assess that our diplomatic efforts have slowed down this effort by the People’s Republic of China,” Blinken said.

China denied on Monday that it was using Cuba as a spy base.

Blinken said former President Donald Trump’s administration was aware of a Chinese update on intelligence-gathering facilities in Cuba in 2019, but efforts to address this “weren’t making enough progress.”

Incoming Biden administration officials were briefed on China’s efforts to “expand their logistics, base and collection infrastructure abroad, to enable them to project and sustain military power at a greater distance,” including an update on Cuba, he said. Blinken.

Biden instructed his team to take a more direct approach that has included engaging governments considering hosting Chinese bases and exchanging information with them, Blinken said.

“We’ve been running that approach quietly, carefully, but, in our view, with results, ever since. I can’t go into every step we’ve taken, but strategy starts with diplomacy,” Blinken said.