US media recently reported that Beijing was planning to set up a spy base on the island off the US coast.
When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, “we were made aware of a number of sensible efforts by the PRC around the world to expand its offshore logistics, base and collection infrastructure globally,” the president said. official, when referring to the People’s Republic of China with an acronym.
“This effort included the presence of PRC intelligence collection facilities in Cuba,” he continued. “In fact, the PRC carried out an upgrade of its intelligence collection facilities in Cuba in 2019.”
The developments come as Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pushed for a rapid expansion of the country’s security presence around the world.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to travel to China next weekend, rescheduling a visit that was canceled in February after a tension-filled incident involving a suspected surveillance balloon passed over the United States.
A base in Cuba, located 150 kilometers from the southern tip of Florida, would pose the most direct challenge to the continental United States to date.
China warned the United States on Friday not to “interfere in Cuba’s internal affairs,” in response to reports in the media about the base project.