Blinken hails US progress on China spying after Cuba revelations
US officials say China has been operating espionage facilities in Cuba for years that were upgraded in 2019.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has commented on an alleged Chinese espionage operation in Cuba, saying it was part of a wider Beijing effort that Washington has been trying to boost.
The statement on Monday comes days after a US official confirmed that China has had an intelligence unit in Cuba for years and upgraded it in 2019.
Blinken said Monday that the Cuba operation was one of “a number of sensitive efforts by Beijing around the world to expand their overseas goods-gathering logistics infrastructure” – developments discussed by the administration of US President Joe Biden upon taking office. was notified.
Beijing’s goal was to “project and maintain military power at a greater distance,” Blinken said.
On Friday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby pushed back on a report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that said Cuba and China had reached a new tentative agreement to establish a spy base on the island. build in exchange for “several billions of dollars”. .
“We have seen the report; it’s not right,” he told Reuters news agency, without specifying what was wrong.
A US official, speaking in the background, on Saturday told reporters that while Beijing has long had intelligence gathering facilities on the island, “this is an ongoing problem and not a new development.”
Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio called the report “defamatory speculation” on Twitter.
Meanwhile, China’s foreign ministry spokesman last week accused the US of “spreading rumors and slander”.
Blinken, speaking alongside his Italian colleague on Monday, made no reference to the WSJ report or its contents.
Instead, the top US diplomat referred to the espionage as a longstanding issue, suggesting that the response from former US President Donald Trump’s administration was inadequate.
“It was our assessment that despite being aware of grassroots efforts and some attempts to address the challenge in the past administration, we were not making enough progress on this point,” he said, “and we had a more immediate action is needed.”
Blinken, who is expected to visit Beijing later this month, said he “cannot comment on every step” the Biden administration has taken to counter China’s espionage.
“But strategy starts with diplomacy. We have engaged governments considering hosting PRC [People’s Republic of China] high-level bases. We exchanged information with them,” he said.
“Our experts assess that our diplomatic efforts have slowed these efforts by the People’s Republic of China. It is something we are watching very closely,” he added.
Communist-controlled Cuba and China have maintained stable relations for years and pursue trade and development initiatives together.
The US has imposed an arms embargo on Cuba for decades, despite regular condemnations from the United Nations General Assembly.
Meanwhile, Washington’s relations with Beijing have become increasingly fraught in recent years, reflected in a hodgepodge earlier this year over an alleged spy balloon hovering over the US.
The latest revelations come as several Latin American countries have officially recognized China in recent years, with critics accusing Beijing of using financial aid to strengthen ties.