The American Embassy in Cuba. ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI / REUTERS
According to press reports on Thursday, China has an agreement with Cuba to set up a spy base on the island near the United States. According to The Wall Street Journalciting anonymous US sources, the secret agreement plans to install an interception station on this Caribbean island, about 200 km from the coast of Florida, where important US military bases are located.
“That is not correct”
China, with whom the US is in fierce competition, will pay Cuba “several billion dollars” to build this facility, wrote the business newspaper on Thursday morning. The White House assured Thursday that the press information about a supposed deal allowing China to install a spy base in Cuba was “not accurate“. “I saw the newspaper article. That is not correctThis is what spokesman for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, told MSNBC.
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According to The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous US sources, a secret agreement would allow for the installation of an interception station on this Caribbean island about 200 km off the coast of Florida, where major US military bases are located. The economic daily adds that China, with which the US is in fierce competition, should pay “several billion dollarsin Cuba to build this facility.
“What I can tell you is that from day one, our administration has been concerned about China’s influence activities around the world, and particularly in this hemisphere and in this region.“, assured John Kirby. “We are following this very closely“, he added.”According to the information we have, this is not correct. We are not aware of any kind of spy base set up by China and Cuba.“, also responded during a daily press briefing the spokesman of the Pentagon, General Pat Ryder, who assured that the United States was monitoring”constant» relations between Beijing and Havana.
Expansion of the Chinese military presence
Chinese President Xi Jinping is leading an expansion of the Chinese military presence around the globe to compete with the US military, which is present on every continent. But the installation of a base in Cuba, as close as possible to the coast of Florida, would constitute a new step for Beijing and would be seen by Washington as an unprecedented threat on its territory.
During the Cold War, the Soviets had electronic spying installations in Cuba, run by a communist government. But in 1962, the US observed missile launch pads there, within range of the US coast. President Kennedy decides on a maritime blockade of the island and for a few days the threat of an open – and nuclear – conflict between the two superpowers was at its height. The USSR finally gave up on its project, and the US in turn withdrew its missiles from Turkey. In January and February 2023, a Chinese balloon described by Washington as a spy flew over the United States before a US fighter jet shot it down, causing a chill in China-US relations.
