CHINA WATCHChina’s Plans for Cuba May Go Beyond Spy Base: Analysts
Top U.S. lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to brief Congress on the spy station China is building in Cuba, but American analysts fear that China’s plans for America’s backyard may go beyond intelligence gathering.
Top U.S. lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to brief Congress on the spy station China is allegedly building in Cuba, but American analysts fear that China’s plans for America’s backyard may go beyond intelligence gathering.
If a war over Taiwan were to break out, these analysts warn, the Chinese military could operate in Latin America and the Caribbean to disrupt U.S. military operations or even strike the continental U.S.
In a June 22 letter to CIA chief William Burns and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, requested that detailed information on China’s activities in Cuba be provided by July 14.
The lawmakers’ concern originated with a June 19 Wall Street Journal report quoting current and former U.S. officials as saying that China is negotiating with the Cuban government to establish a joint military training facility in the island nation just 166 kilometers from Florida. The enterprise could lead to the stationing of Chinese troops at the facility and expansion of Chinese intelligence-gathering against the U.S.
“It is imperative that we understand in full detail: the exact nature and objectives of the PRC’s intelligence gathering in Cuba and military partnership with the regime; the implications of such efforts for U.S. national interests; and what the Biden administration is doing to mitigate such efforts and deter their further expansion with Cuba and the Western Hemisphere,” the letter says.
“The American public needs to be assured that their government unequivocally condemns this escalation, and is working to do everything in its power to counter it,” the lawmakers wrote.
Some U.S. Success
Blinken told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on June 25 that Washington had made its concerns clear to Beijing and Havana and had had some success in preventing China from building military bases overseas.
Republican Representative Mike Gallagher, chairman of a select committee on U.S.-China strategic competition, told VOA Mandarin in a June 26 email, “If true, this [WSJ] report illustrates yet again why it is foolish for the Biden administration to shelve defensive actions and disclosures simply to secure a diplomatic audience with General Secretary Xi [Jinping]. The [Chinese Communist Party] is the only party seeking to upend the peaceful status quo, and prioritizing endless dialogue over competitive policies invites aggression.”
