For years, China has maintained an intelligence unit in Cuba, which was upgraded in 2019 as a part of Beijing’s international strategy to boost its intelligence-gathering capabilities, according to a senior White House official. This revelation follows a current Wall Street Journal report claiming that China had struck a covert agreement with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island, just 160 kilometres from the southern United States.
The WSJ additionally reported that China intended to pay Cuba billions of US dollars as part of the deal. Both the US and Cuban governments have expressed important doubts about the report. Speaking on situation of anonymity, a White House official stated that the WSJ’s portrayal “does not comport with our understanding.” However, they did not present particular details on the report’s inaccuracies or handle whether or not China was trying to assemble a brand new eavesdropping facility in Cuba.
The official famous that the matter predates President Joe Biden’s administration and is a part of China’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its global intelligence collection infrastructure. “This is an ongoing problem and never a brand new development,” the official stated. “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] carried out an improve of its intelligence collection services in Cuba in 2019. This is well-documented in the intelligence report.”
In response to the allegations, an official at China’s embassy in Washington, DC referred to a press release by a Chinese overseas ministry spokesperson, who accused the US of “spreading rumours and slander” regarding a Cuban spy station and labelled it “the most powerful hacker empire in the world.”
Cuba’s government has also strongly criticised the claims. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio took to Twitter to condemn the “slanderous speculation” that he believes is being promoted by sure media shops to cause hurt and alarm without adhering to primary communication requirements or providing proof to help their claims. Cossio has beforehand characterised the WSJ’s report as a fabrication by the US to justify its long-standing economic embargo towards the island. He emphasised that Cuba opposes all international army presence in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Blacklisted of Chinese spying from Cuba come at a time when Washington and Beijing are making cautious efforts to ease tensions that escalated after a suspected Chinese high-altitude spy balloon crossed the US mainland, prompting the US military to shoot it down off the East Coast in February. These efforts include a planned go to to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on June 18, which had been beforehand cancelled because of the spy balloon incident.
A Biden administration official stated that although former President Donald Trump’s administration was aware of the Chinese basing efforts in Cuba and made some makes an attempt to deal with the issue.
“We were not making sufficient progress and wanted a extra direct strategy.”
The official revealed that US diplomats had engaged with governments considering internet hosting Chinese bases and had exchanged info with them..