White House Says China Has Had Cuba Spy Base Since at Least 2019
Statement says Beijing’s efforts to expand its intelligence gathering are ongoing
WASHINGTON—The White House on Saturday said that China has had a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019 and Beijing’s efforts to expand its intelligence gathering are ongoing.
It added that the Biden administration has taken steps to counter Chinese expansion of its security footprint globally.
The statement, which the White House said was based on newly declassified intelligence, follows a Wall Street Journal report Thursday that said China and Cuba had reached an agreement in principle to build an electronic eavesdropping station on the island. Officials familiar with the matter said that China planned to pay Cuba, long in dire economic straits, billions of dollars as part of the negotiations.
After publication, the White House said Thursday that the Journal’s report was inaccurate, but declined to elaborate. On Saturday, it said: “This is an ongoing issue, and not a new development, and the arrangement as characterized in the reporting does not comport with our understanding.”
Saturday’s White House statement said that when the Biden administration came to office in January 2021, officials were briefed on China’s efforts to expand its global military and intelligence presence, including projects in the Atlantic Ocean, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and the Indo-Pacific.
That included “intelligence collection facilities” in Cuba, which the statement said were upgraded in 2019. “This is well-documented in the intelligence record,” the statement said.
It said the Chinese government “will keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba, and we will keep working to disrupt it.” The statement also cited continued challenges with Beijing’s activities on the island.
It added: “We think the PRC isn’t quite where they had hoped to be.”
People familiar with the matter said reports on China’s and Cuba’s plans have appeared in classified intelligence reporting in recent weeks, and have been shared with members of Congress’s intelligence committees.
Using Cuba, roughly 100 miles off the Florida coast, as a base could provide eavesdropping access to U.S. military, commercial and other communications in the Southeast region, where there are dozens of U.S. military bases, as well as the monitoring of military and commercial traffic. The U.S. military’s headquarters for U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East and parts of Central and South Asia, and U.S. Special Operations Command, are both in Tampa, Fla. U.S. Southern Command is based in Miami.
The new White House statement said the U.S. has taken diplomatic and other steps to “slow down” the Chinese government in Cuba and around the world, having deemed that the Trump administration had made insufficient progress in stemming the initiative.
The Biden administration persuaded a close ally, the United Arab Emirates to halt, at least temporarily, China’s construction of a military facility at a port near the capital, Abu Dhabi, the Journal reported in 2021.
In a tweet, Rep. Michael Turner, Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, criticized what he said were the White House’s shifting descriptions of the situation in Cuba. “In less than 48 hours, officials from the Biden administration have contradicted themselves multiple times about whether or not the Chinese Communist Party is spying on the United States,” Turner, (R., Ohio) said. “This is unacceptable.”
Sens. Mark Warner (D., Va.), the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), the vice chairman, issued a joint statement this past week saying they were deeply disturbed by reports that China and Cuba were working together to target the U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit Beijing later this month in an effort to stem a steep recent deterioration in U.S.-China relations.
Write to Gordon Lubold at gordon.lubold@wsj.com