World News | Cuba allows China to build spy facility on island: US intelligence

washington [US]June 9 (ANI): Cuba has agreed to allow China to build a surveillance facility on the island that would allow the Chinese to eavesdrop on electronic communications in the southeastern United States, two sources familiar with the intelligence told CNN.

The first source said the U.S. had learned of the plan in the past few weeks, and it was unclear whether China had already started building the surveillance facility, CNN reported.

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A second source familiar with the intelligence said that suggested an agreement had been reached in principle, but that there had been no progress on building the facility.

But Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cosio denied the reports.

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This is not the first time China has attempted to spy on U.S. electronic communications, known as signals intelligence. CNN, citing sources, said a suspected Chinese spy balloon that passed over the United States in February was able to collect signals intelligence, which is believed to have been transmitted back to Beijing in near real time.

In that case, the U.S. took steps to secure sensitive sites and review intelligence signals before shooting down the balloon. But it is unclear what the United States could do to stop China from building spy facilities in Cuba.

But National Security Council spokesman John Kirby denied the report, saying “the report was inaccurate.”

“We’re really concerned about China’s relationship with Cuba, and we’ve been concerned about China’s activities in our hemisphere and around the world since day one of the administration. We’re watching closely and taking steps to address that. We still believe we can deliver All of our security commitments at home and in the region,” Kirby added.

Kirby initially told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday morning that he was “unable to comment on this specific report,” but that U.S. officials “are very aware — and have spoken repeatedly — about PRC investment in China,” CNN reported. Efforts” for infrastructure that may have military purposes around the world, including in this hemisphere. “

At a news conference in Havana on Thursday, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cosio called them “completely untrue” and “defamatory.”

“U.S. officials routinely fabricate such slanders,” he said, claiming that the reported spy base was used to legitimize U.S. sanctions on Cuba.

De Cosio added: “Maliciously promoting fallacies to justify an unprecedented tightening of the economic embargo, destabilization and aggression against Cuba, and to deceive public opinion in the United States and around the world.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, a Republican, issued statements expressing concern about the reports.

According to CNN, citing sources, the first source familiar with intelligence pointed out that while the establishment of a wiretapping base in Cuba is a concern, China has established a stronghold in the United States, a secret that the Biden administration has begun to crack down on. police station.

The U.S. also conducts espionage missions near China, using surveillance planes that routinely conduct electronic eavesdropping. One of the U.S. planes was recently intercepted by a Chinese fighter jet in what the U.S. said was a dangerous and unprofessional maneuver, CNN reported.

But news of a possible Chinese outpost in Cuba comes at a time when U.S.-China relations are at a low point following the spy balloon incident and repeated offensive drills by Chinese aircraft and ships against U.S. assets in the South China Sea.

The United States has been trying to mend relations between the two countries and last month sent CIA Director Bill Burns to Beijing for talks with Chinese officials. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is also expected to visit China in the coming weeks.

But last week, China’s defense minister rejected a meeting request from U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and warned the U.S. to stop activities near Chinese waters and airspace.

“The best way to prevent this from happening is for warships and planes to stay away from our waters and airspace,” Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu said in Singapore last week, referring to recent close quarters between Chinese and American planes and ships call. “Just watch your own waters and airspace and you’ll have no problems.”

The Biden administration has done little to try to improve relations with Cuba and has resumed only limited bilateral dialogue on issues such as immigration. It comes after the Obama administration’s reconciliation efforts as the so-called “Havana syndrome” illness affected U.S. diplomats stationed in the Cuban capital, and the Trump administration’s decision – in the last days of that administration – to relist Cuba as a sponsor of terrorism s country. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)