[Update] Breaking News: US Says China Is Spying From Cuban Base

A Biden administration official said Saturday that China has been using a spy facility in Cuba at least since 2019 to electronically track signals from multiple US military sites. “In 2019, China upgraded its intelligence gathering facilities in Cuba,” according to a Chinese government report. This is supported by substantial evidence in the intelligence file,” the official added. According to the official, upon taking office, Biden received a briefing on the issue, and he then asked his team to address the issue.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the spy base was a legacy issue from the previous Trump administration, stressing that it was not established under President Biden. This information was provided to Politico and other media. According to the person, when Vice President Joe Biden took office, his administration was “taught of a number of sensitive efforts by the PRC around the world to expand its logistics, base and collection infrastructure to abroad on a global scale”. By “PRC efforts,” the official was referring to efforts by the People’s Republic of China.

News that China and Cuba had reached an agreement allowing the construction of a “wiretapping facility” on the island was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. The report published in the Journal was initially refuted by John Kirby, who is the spokesman for the National Security Council. Kirby said the report was “not accurate”. However, Kirby mentioned that the United States has “genuine concerns about China’s relationship with Cuba.” However, another insider who wished to remain anonymous confirmed the accuracy of the Journal’s allegation. This official said that the spy base did indeed already exist and was not currently under construction.

It is possible that the creation of the spy center represents a turning point in relations between the United States and Cuba. Cuba is a communist nation that was cut off from the United States for several decades before former President Barack Obama restored diplomatic relations in 2015. A Cuban foreign minister named Carlos F. de Cossio tweeted that the idea that the United States is harboring “scandalous speculation” regarding the presence of a Chinese spy base in Cuba.