ADMITTING IT

Chinese Spy Base Has Been Up and Running in Cuba Since 2019: NYT

The admission by a U.S. official comes after the White House characterized a report about a Sino-Cuban agreement to build a base as “inaccurate.”

China has operated a spy base out of Cuba since 2019, a Biden Administration official told the Associated Press on Saturday. The confirmation comes after the White House characterized an earlier Wall Street Journal report about a billion-dollar deal to build an eavesdropping facility in the Caribbean nation as “inaccurate.” The unnamed official said that the base—capable of picking up U.S. military and commercial signals—was built as part of Beijing’s efforts to expand its international intelligence-gathering apparatus. The official added that Chinese espionage from Cuba was an “ongoing” issue and the base was “not a new development.” The New York Times reported on Sunday that the station was a problem the current administration inherited from former President Donald Trump. The development follows the Journal’s report from Thursday that China had agreed to pay billions of dollars to build the facility in Cuba, roughly 100 miles from the Florida coastline. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at the time that the Journal’s report was “not accurate.”