The United States Embassy in Havana ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI (Portal)
China is interested in establishing a new spy facility in Cuba that could be used to intercept communications in the United States, US intelligence sources told several national media outlets. A headquarters of this type, less than 200 kilometers from the first power, would bring electronic communications from military bases and large industrial sectors near the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean within Beijing’s reach.
According to the sources mentioned above, China’s interest was noted several weeks ago. Havana and Beijing have started talks on the issue, but it’s unclear at what point they are. Media such as Politico point out that no agreement has been reached so far. The Wall Street Journal newspaper, which first broke the news Thursday, asserts that negotiations have already concluded with an agreement in principle and that the Chinese government has agreed to pay billions of dollars to the island. The White House, through National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, has asserted that the information in the newspaper is “inaccurate.”
The revelation, the newspaper asserts, set off alarm bells within the Joe Biden administration given Cuba’s proximity to US territory. Beijing is Washington’s main systemic rival in every conceivable area — diplomatic, economic, technological, military — and a Chinese entity with advanced capabilities could pose an unprecedented threat.
Relations between Washington and Havana are on the verge of a standstill after President Donald Trump ended the era of “constructive engagement” under his predecessor Barack Obama. An initial rapprochement after Joe Biden’s entry into the White House has not borne any real fruit.
The idea of a Chinese base in Cuba is reminiscent of the Cold War. One of the most tense moments of this era occurred when the United States discovered Soviet missiles on the island in 1962, in what became known as the Missile Crisis.
The Cuban Embassy in Washington has not yet commented on the information published in the US media. US Department of Defense spokesman General Patrick Ryder also declined to comment on the matter at a press conference at the Pentagon.
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Officials quoted by the Wall Street Journal called the intelligence data “convincing.” According to these sources, the facility would allow Beijing to conduct operations to collect intelligence data on communications, including emails, phone calls and satellite broadcasts. If the project is confirmed, the base would be the second official Chinese settlement abroad after the military headquarters in Djibouti.
Beijing’s alleged interest in establishing an intelligence base in Cuba comes to light weeks after a Chinese hot air balloon flew over US territory. The device was shot down by the US Air Force over territorial waters in February amid allegations by Washington that the device was performing espionage functions. Washington also conducts intelligence operations near China.
The episode blasted a tentative attempt at rapprochement between the two rivals, whose leaders Xi Jinping and Joe Biden agreed at last November’s G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, to take action to stem a dangerous deterioration in the situation prevent bilateral relationship. Foreign Minister Antony Blinken postponed the trip to Beijing planned for these dates.
In the last month, however, the two nations had begun taking steps to get ties back on track. Two more conciliatory speeches by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan were followed by a meeting between Sullivan and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Vienna, which was kept in the utmost secrecy until it was held.
Exchanges of diplomatic visits continued, with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao traveling to the United States to meet with his US counterpart Gina Raimondo and Foreign Trade Envoy Kathleen Tai. Two senior officials from the State Department and the National Security Council have traveled to Beijing in recent days with the aim of agreeing on a new date for Blinken’s trip.
At the same time, relations between the armies of both countries remain frozen. The Pentagon failed to persuade Beijing to allow Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu in Singapore during the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security forum both attended. Washington warns that without military contacts, an incident is possible that could degenerate into a crisis with unforeseeable consequences. It also warned of an “increasing aggressiveness” by Chinese forces in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. In the past ten days, two clashes between patrols from both countries have occurred in the region, one in the air and one at sea.
“China’s plans to build a monitoring station in Cuba, like US plans to sell nuclear submarines to Australia and expand its defense cooperation with Taiwan, are years-long efforts that show each side preparing for one future at a time . More confrontation,” he stresses.
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