China has been spying from Cuba for some time and upgraded its intelligence collection facilities there in 2019, a Biden administration official said on Saturday, following a report about a new spying effort underway on the island.
China had reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island roughly 100 miles (160km) from Florida, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday but the US and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report.
The Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the media’s characterisation “does not comport with our understanding”, but did not specify how the report was wrong or address in detail whether there were efforts by China to build a new eavesdropping facility in Cuba.
The official said the issue predated Joe Biden’s presidency, as had Beijing’s efforts to strengthen its intelligence collection infrastructure worldwide.
“This is an ongoing issue, and not a new development,” the official said. “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] conducted an upgrade of its intelligence collection facilities in Cuba in 2019. This is well-documented in the intelligence record.”
Asked for comment, an official at China’s embassy in Washington pointed to Friday’s statement by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson who accused the US of “spreading r
