MOSCOW – China has been using a military base in Cuba to gather intelligence on the US since 2019, reported Sputnik based on a report by Politico yesterday citing a US administration official.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that China and Cuba had entered into a secret agreement to establish a Chinese base in Cuba to spy on US military bases.
“When this (US President Joe Biden) administration took office in January 2021, we were briefed on a number of sensitive PRC efforts around the world to expand its overseas logistics, basing, and collection infrastructure globally… This effort included the presence of PRC intelligence collection facilities in Cuba. In fact, the PRC conducted an upgrade of its intelligence collection facilities in Cuba in 2019. This is well-documented in the intelligence record,” the official was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Biden instructed his administration to resolve this issue, the official said, adding that “within months, we did so” through diplomatic engagement with China.
“We think the PRC isn’t quite where they had hoped to be. The PRC will keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba, and we will keep working to disrupt it,” the official noted.
On Friday, the Cuban Foreign Ministry denied media reports about an alleged agreement between China and Cuba to build a military base to spy on Washington. – Bernama, June 11, 2023
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