Cuba to Host Chinese Base to Spy on U.S.
Beijing agrees to pay Havana several billion dollars for eavesdropping facility. This is exclusive in today's Wall Street Journal.
China and Cuba have reached a secret agreement for Beijing to build an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island, a new Chinese geopolitical challenge to the United States, according to U.S. officials familiar with highly classified intelligence. An intercept facility in Cuba, about 100 miles from Florida, would allow Chinese intelligence services to collect electronic communications throughout the southeastern United States, where many military bases are located, and monitor U.S. naval traffic. China has agreed to pay cash-strapped Cuba several billion dollars to allow it to build the intercept station. The revelation about the planned site sparked alarm in the Biden administration because of Cuba's proximity to the U.S. mainland. Washington views Beijing as its most significant economic and military rival. A Chinese base with advanced military and intelligence capabilities in the U.S. backyard would be an unprecedented new threat.