Rumors that China has set up an intelligence base in Cuba, Havana calls it "slander", what does the US comment on?

In response to the news that the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Cuba will allow China to set up an intelligence base, Washington and Havana have both spoken out.

Phong thanh tin Trung Quốc đặt cơ sở tình báo ở Cuba, Havana nói 'vu khống', Mỹ bình luận gì?

Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio. (Source: AFP)

On June 8, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio affirmed that the information provided by WSJ about the secret agreement between Beijing and Havana regarding the above secret intelligence base is false.

Stressing that these are baseless slanders, the diplomat affirmed that Cuba, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Latin America as a Zone of Peace , rejects any foreign military presence in the region, including the US military presence in the easternmost province of Guantánamo.

Meanwhile, on the same day, speaking to MSNBC news agency, White House national security coordinator John Kirby also denied the WSJ 's information.

“I have seen the information in the press. This is not accurate. What I can tell you is that from the first day I took office, we have been concerned about China's influence activities around the world ... We will be watching very closely,” he said.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder stressed that the above information was incorrect, affirming: "We have not seen China or Cuba building any such spy stations."

Earlier the same day, the WSJ newspaper reported that Beijing and Havana signed a secret agreement to build a Chinese electronic reconnaissance facility on the Caribbean island nation, which could monitor communications across the Southeast United States.

The newspaper quoted anonymous US officials as saying that China would pay Cuba “several billion dollars” to build the facility.

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