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.
establish an electronic eavesdropping facility
The official said the issue predated Joe Biden's presidency, as had Beijing's efforts to strengthen its intelligence collection infrastructure worldwide. The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio dismissed the Journal's report as "totally mendacious" and called it a U.S. fabrication meant to justify Washington's decades-old economic embargo against the island. He said Cuba rejects all foreign military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Biden administration official said that despite the former administration of Donald Trump being aware of the Chinese basing effort in Cuba and making some attempts to address the challenge, "we were not making enough progress and needed a more direct approach."
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