Global Courant
The Biden administration has taken steps to reduce China’s attempts to potentially spy on the United States following confirmed reports that Beijing has an intelligence base in Cuba.
“We are confident that we can continue to protect our nation’s secrets in this hemisphere and beyond and that we can continue to appropriately defend the country,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Monday to reporters.
Government officials confirmed on Sunday that China is working to ramp up its espionage capabilities in Cuba. China has had a spy base on the island, which is 90 miles from South Florida, since at least 2019, officials said.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the Biden administration was confident it can keep America’s secrets amid reports of a Chinese spy base in Cuba. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday that China and Cuba have reached a secret agreement for China to establish an electronic wiretapping facility on the island, allowing Chinese intelligence agencies to “pick up electronic communications in the southeastern U.S., where many military bases are established, and follow US shipping traffic.”
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The report, citing officials familiar with the matter, said China had agreed to pay Cuba several billion dollars to enable the country to build the eavesdropping station. According to the report, US officials described information about the plans as “convincing”.
The Biden administration initially said the report was “not accurate” before confirming the news.
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“The sensitive nature of this information is such that we just can’t go into more detail,” Kirby said before criticizing those who leaked the news to the media.
An anonymous official said the Biden administration said China was looking to expand its overseas logistics, including locations in the Atlantic, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and the Indo-Pacific.
Xi Jinping, Secretary General of the CPC Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in Beijing. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)
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The news about the spy base comes weeks after White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with his Chinese counterpart in Vienna last month to relay that the government wanted to improve communications with Chinese officials.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Tara Prindiville contributed to this report.
