The Pentagon and the White House on Thursday denied reports that China is planning to build a listening post in Cuba that would allow the communist power to eavesdrop on electronic communications across the southeastern US.
Department of Defense spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder called reports of an agreement between China and Cuba to build the secret base “inaccurate.”
“I can tell you based on the information that we have that that is not accurate, that we are not aware of China and Cuba developing any type of spy station,” Ryder said during a Thursday press briefing at the Pentagon.
“Separately, I would say that the relationship that those two countries share is something that we continuously monitor. I would say that – as you’ve heard us say many times – China’s activities both in our hemisphere and around the world, any concerning activities, are something that we will continue to watch closely. But in terms of that particular report, no, it’s not accurate,” Ryder said.
CNN and the Wall Street Journal both reported on Thursday that in recent weeks, the US has learned about the purported plan and that it is unclear whether China has already begun construction on the surveillance facility, which would be located roughly 100 miles from Florida.
Officials familiar with the matter told the Journal that China will pay the cash-strapped communist island several billion dollars in exchange for hosting the secret base.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday also cast doubt on the reports.
“It’s not accurate. What I can tell you is that we have been concerned since day one of this administration about China’s influence activities around the world, certainly in this hemisphere and in this region,” Kirby told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell.
“We’re watching this very, very closely. And we will and we have and will continue to take steps to mitigate any potential threat that those activities might pose so that we can make sure and we’re positive that we can continue to defend this nation,” Kirby said.
Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio dismissed the report as “totally mendacious and unfounded,” decrying it as a fabrication to justify the US embargo against Cuba, according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington told the outlet that they were “not aware of the case and as a result we can’t give a comment right now.”
Tensions between the US and China have been elevated since a Chinese surveillance balloon entered US airspace in January and traversed the entire continental US – hovering over sensitive US nuclear weapons sites – before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.
