US, Cuba speak out after news of China reaching agreement to build spy base

The Wall Street Journal on June 8 quoted a number of US officials as saying that China had reached a secret agreement with Cuba to set up an electronic eavesdropping facility on an island about 160 km from the state of Florida (USA).

The establishment of such a spying facility would allow Beijing to collect electronic communications from the southeastern United States, where many American military bases are located, as well as monitor the movements of ships, according to The Wall Street Journal , citing the above-mentioned US officials. They also said that the two countries had reached an agreement in principle, with China paying Cuba “several billions of dollars” to allow the listening post.

The deal has raised alarm in the Biden administration, posing a new threat near US shores, according to The Wall Street Journal . US officials declined to provide further details about the proposed location of the listening post or whether construction has begun.

Meanwhile, US Department of Defense spokesman Patrick Ryder said: "We are not aware of China and Cuba developing a new type of spy station."

"We have seen that report. It is inaccurate," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told Reuters, but he did not elaborate on what he thought was inaccurate.

Mỹ, Cuba lên tiếng sau tin Trung Quốc đạt thỏa thuận xây căn cứ do thám - Ảnh 1. — US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby at a press conference in Washington DC

In Havana, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio dismissed the report as "completely false and baseless" and a US fabrication to justify Washington's decades-long economic embargo on Cuba. He also stressed that Cuba rejects any foreign military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC said: "We are not aware of the incident and therefore we cannot comment right now."

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