China plans to build a facility in Cuba that would have the ability to spy on the United States by intercepting electronic signals from nearby US military and commercial facilities, three US officials familiar with the deal said.
Beijing has built listening outposts elsewhere and has a military presence in Cuba, but the listening station could give China a base about 100 miles off the Florida coast from which it could potentially conduct surveillance operations against the United States.
Officials said the planned facility’s proximity to the United States is particularly concerning, as it would enhance Beijing’s technological ability to monitor sensitive operations across the southeastern states, including several military bases.
“We are deeply disturbed by reports that Havana and Beijing are working together to target the United States and our people,” said Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, and Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who lead the Senate Intelligence Committee. A joint statement on Thursday. “The United States must respond to China’s ongoing and brazen attacks on our nation’s security.”
The details of the talks between China and Cuba – described by US officials on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence – come as the Biden administration seeks to stabilize relations with Beijing, its main strategic rival, after a period of rising tensions. The Wall Street Journal first reported on plans to build a facility in Cuba.
President Biden’s National Security Council pushed back against reports of a planned facility. “This report is inaccurate,” council spokesman John Kirby said in a statement, declining to go into further detail. “We have real concerns about China’s relationship with Cuba, and we have been concerned since Day 1 of the administration about China’s activities in our hemisphere and around the world.”
Mr. Kirby said the administration is closely monitoring those activities and taking steps to combat them. “We are confident that we will be able to meet all our security commitments at home and in the region,” he said.
A number of diplomatic, military and climate engagements between the two countries were suspended after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last year. Bilateral relations suffered a further setback earlier this year when a Chinese spy balloon was caught passing over the United States, hovering near sensitive military locations.
The incident prompted a backlash from Congress and prompted Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken inspired him. Mr. Blinken plans to make the trip soon, according to US officials, after weeks of intense diplomacy that included a meeting between National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese official Wang Yi. It is unclear whether recent revelations about a planned facility in Cuba could affect the visit again.
Representatives of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
Carlos Fernández de Coscio, an official at Cuba’s foreign ministry, said reports of Chinese plans to build a spy base in the country were “totally false and baseless.” A Chinese embassy representative said Beijing was “not aware of the case”.
China and the United States routinely conduct surveillance operations against each other. The United States sends surveillance planes over the South China Sea, deploys military assets in allies around the Pacific, and sells and supplies weapons to the democratic island of Taiwan, which the Chinese government considers part of its territory.
US officials have accused China of ambitious hacking attacks against the US government and corporations in recent years, trying to recruit agents and assets inside and outside the United States, and monitoring and threatening Chinese dissidents overseas.
Analysts say it is no surprise that Beijing appears to be pursuing a closer arrangement with Cuba. The two countries have developed closer ties since the end of the Cold War. China is Cuba’s largest trading partner, and plays a role in the island’s agricultural, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and infrastructure industries. Beijing holds a significant measure of Havana’s foreign debt.
Cuba’s proximity to the United States made it a desirable strategic base for US adversaries, perhaps during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union made plans to place nuclear missiles on the island nation and then backed off. Today, the United States has a largely hostile relationship with Cuba, which, like China, is controlled by a communist government.
Diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba were put on ice shortly after Fidel Castro’s communist regime came to power in 1959; Relations were fully restored only during the tenure of President Barack Obama. President Donald J. Trump reversed part of that move by reinstating some travel bans on Cuba and re-designating the country as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Cuban officials asked the Biden administration to remove the designation, but it remains in place. Still, Mr. Biden has relaxed some of Mr. Trump’s restrictions. Cuba continues to regard the US base at Guantanamo Bay, established in the early 20th century, as an illegal occupation.