Pentagon: Media Reports on China Spy Station in Cuba Are 'Not Accurate'

[Judi Lynn]

June 08, 2023 3:52 PM
UPDATE June 08, 2023 10:10 PM
Ken Bredemeier
Carla Babb

The Pentagon says reports that China and Cuba have reached a secret pact allowing Beijing to build an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island that is 160 kilometers from the United States are "not accurate."

"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," Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's press secretary, told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.

According to the reports, which first appeared in The Wall Street Journal citing unnamed intelligence officials, China had agreed to pay financially hard-pressed Cuba several billion dollars for the spy facility, which would allow China to collect electronic communications from throughout the southeastern United States, where numerous military bases are located.

Ryder added that the Pentagon was not aware of China setting up any type of military base in Cuba or elsewhere in the region. However, he cautioned that the relationship between Cuba and China is something that the Pentagon monitors, along with any type of "coercive activity or belligerent activity" by China in the Western Hemisphere.

More:
https://www.voanews.com/a/pentagon-says-media-reports-on-china-spy-station-in-cuba-not-accurate-/7129028.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. China: 'Hacker empire' US is 'spreading rumours' with talk of Cuba spy station

Reuters
June 9, 20239:23 AM CDT Updated 4 hours ago

BEIJING, June 9 (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry on Friday said "spreading rumours and slander" is a common tactic of "hacker empire" the United States, after a media report that China has reached a deal with Cuba to set up an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island.

Citing U.S. officials familiar with classified intelligence, the Wall Street Journal said such a spy installation would allow Beijing to gather electronic communications from the southeastern United States, home to many U.S. military bases, as well as monitor ship traffic.

Cuba and China have reached an agreement in principle, the U.S. officials said, with China to pay Cuba "several billion dollars" for the eavesdropping station, according to the Journal.

John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told Reuters on Thursday that the report was "not accurate," but did not say what he thought was inaccurate.

"As we all know, spreading rumours and slander is a common tactic of the United States," said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry. "The United States is also the most powerful hacker empire in the world, and also veritably a major monitoring nation."

More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/china-hacker-empire-us-is-spreading-rumours-with-talk-cuba-spy-station-2023-06-09/

[Judi Lynn]

2. Cuban, US Governments Deny Secret Chinese Spy Base in Cuba

2023/06/09
•
World

The Cuban and U.S. governments have both denied a Wall Street Journal report saying Havana and Beijing agreed to establish a Chinese electronic eavesdropping facility in Cuba, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Florida.

If true, a spy base with such proximity to several U.S. military bases in the southeastern region of the country would allow Beijing to collect electronic communications and monitor ship traffic, the newspaper said.

The agreement was reached in principle, The Wall Street Journal said, in exchange for “several billion dollars” for the cash-strapped Latin American country.

Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez De Cossio said the report was a U.S. fabrication, describing it as “totally mendacious and unfounded.”

He stressed his country rejects all foreign military presence in Latin America, including the bases maintained in the region by the United States.

More:
https://international.thenewslens.com/article/186145

[Judi Lynn]

3. WSJ says China to build spy base in Cuba, but US and Cuba cast doubt on report

PUBLISHED ON
JUNE 09, 2023 1:11 AM

WASHINGTON/HAVANA - China has reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island roughly 100 miles (160 km) from Florida, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday (June 8), but the US and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report.

Such a spy installation would allow Beijing to gather electronic communications from the southeastern US, which houses many US military bases, as well as monitor ship traffic, the newspaper reported, citing US officials familiar with classified intelligence.

The command headquarters is based in Tampa. Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, the largest US military base, is in North Carolina.

The countries have reached an agreement in principle, the officials said, with China to pay Cuba "several billion dollars" to allow the eavesdropping station, according to the Journal.

“We have seen the report. It's not accurate," John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told Reuters. But he did not specify what he thought was incorrect.

More:
https://www.asiaone.com/world/wsj-says-china-build-spy-base-cuba-us-and-cuba-cast-doubt-report

Source: Reuters