China has a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019

WASHINGTON—

China has had an active spy base in Cuba since at least 2019 as part of Beijing’s attempts to improve its intelligence-gathering capabilities globally, according to a Joe Biden administration official.

The US intelligence community has long been aware of China’s spying from Cuba and Beijing’s attempts to set up intelligence-gathering centers around the world, said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized. to make statements on the matter.

The Biden government has intensified its measures to prevent China from expanding its espionage operations although it considers that it has made some progress through diplomatic channels and through other unspecified measures, said the official familiar with federal intelligence actions on the matter.

The existence of a Chinese spy base was confirmed after The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that China and Cuba had reached an agreement in principle to build an electronic interception station in Cuban territory. According to the newspaper, China plans to pay billions of dollars to Cuba as part of the negotiations at a time when the island is short of cash.

The White House dismissed the article as inaccurate.

“I already saw the article, it’s inaccurate,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday in an interview on MSNBC. “What I can tell you is that we have been concerned since day one of this administration about China’s influence activities around the world; Certainly in this hemisphere and this region, we are watching very closely.”

The US intelligence community had determined that Chinese espionage from Cuba has been an “ongoing” issue and “not a new occurrence,” the source said.

Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío also refuted the article in a tweet on Saturday.

The official said that the smear campaign promoted by certain media continues to cause damage and alarm without supporting what they propagate with data or evidence.

The intelligence community briefed Biden’s national security team—barely after he took office in January 2021—of the number of sensitive Chinese actions around the world where Beijing was considering expanding its logistics, bases, and collection infrastructure inside the People’s Liberation Army’s attempts to expand its influence, the official said.

Chinese authorities examined sites spanning the Atlantic Ocean, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. The effort included studying the current collection facilities in Cuba, while China expanded its espionage activities on the island in 2019, according to the official.

The United States and China have had strong tensions during the Biden government.

Relations between Washington and Beijing hit their lowest level last year after then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited the democratic island of Taiwan. Because of the visit, the first by a female House speaker since Newt Gingrich’s in 1997, China has launched military exercises around Taiwan, which it considers part of its territory.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have further escalated this year after the United States shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon who had crossed US territory.

Beijing was also enraged when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited the United States last month and met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.

The Taiwanese president and McCarthy met at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Southern California.

In any case, the White House has shown itself willing to resume high-level communications between the two countries.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to travel to China next week. This visit was to take place earlier but was canceled when the balloon flew over the United States. Blinken is scheduled to be in Beijing on June 18 to meet with Chinese officials, according to US sources who requested anonymity on Friday. Neither the State Department nor the Chinese Foreign Ministry have confirmed the trip.

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