According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House said on Saturday that China will be out of Cuba from at least 2019, following reports that Beijing has reached a tentative agreement to set up a new base of operations elsewhere in Cuba. revealed that it operates a spy base.
The White House on Friday characterized as “inaccurate” the WSJ’s initial report on China’s plans for a surveillance post in Cuba focused on intercepting electronic communications, including emails and radio communications in the southeastern United States. But a White House official told the media on Saturday that the Biden administration has sought to quell repeated spying on the United States by China since the Biden presidency, and that China has been conducting surveillance operations in Cuba since at least 2019. said that
“This is an ongoing issue, not a new development, and the arrangements characterized in the reports are inconsistent with our understanding,” the White House told the WSJ, citing the media’s previous reports. . (Related: University Housing Biden Center Receives Funds from Companies Controlled by China’s “Supreme Body of State Power,” Documents Show)
After taking office in 2021, the administration will be briefed by intelligence officials on the Chinese government’s global intelligence agenda, including efforts to establish surveillance posts in the Atlantic, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and the Indo-Pacific. . to the WSJ.
“This effort involved the presence of Chinese intelligence-gathering facilities in Cuba,” the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue. according to to Politico. “In fact, China implemented an upgrade of Cuban intelligence collection facilities in 2019, which is well documented in intelligence records.”
The White House said the effort is still underway today.
The Chinese government “will continue to strive to increase its presence in Cuba, and we will continue to strive to disrupt Cuba,” an official told the WSJ. The U.S. has taken steps to “slow down” China’s progress in building intelligence hubs around the world, including in Cuba, adding that the Trump administration’s efforts were deemed insufficient.
“This is a problem inherited by the current administration,” the official said, according to a report by the Politico newspaper.
The White House added that “China is not where we hoped it would be,” according to the Politico newspaper. “Our experts assess that our diplomatic efforts have slowed China down.”
As Vice-Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued a statement with the Chairman @MarkWarner Following the report, China and Cuba reached an agreement to allow 🇨🇳 to set up electronic wiretapping facilities on islands less than 160 miles from Florida.https://t.co/zF1uewIpL7 pic.twitter.com/6I5AVjFfQM
— Senator Marco Rubio (@SenMarcoRubio) June 8, 2023
Information about Cuba’s role in China’s espionage and plans appeared in classified reports in recent weeks, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. That information has been shared with some members of the Intelligence Committee.
Republican Rep. Michael Warner (Ohio), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement to Politico following Saturday’s report that the reports were contradictory.
“In less than 48 hours, Biden administration officials have repeatedly contradicted whether the Chinese Communist Party is spying on the United States. This is unacceptable,” he told the media.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin says China is ‘not aware’ of new Cuban spy base Said On Friday, he accused the United States of “chasing shadows and interfering in other countries’ internal affairs.”
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