China and Cuba have agreed to terms on a deal that would allow China to establish an electronic eavesdropping base on the island with the purpose of spying on American communications.
Agreed on in principle, the deal involves China paying Cuba billions of dollars in exchange for room to build and operate the facility, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
“While I cannot speak to this specific report, we are well aware of—and have spoken many times to—the People’s Republic of China’s efforts to invest in infrastructure around the world that may have military purposes, including in this hemisphere,” John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, told the Journal. “We monitor it closely, take steps to counter it, and remain confident that we are able to meet all our security commitments at home, in the region, and around the world.”
The news comes amidst rising tension between the United States and China. In recent months China has rejected a meeting between U.S. and Chinese military officials and aggressively postured its military forces in the South China Sea, leading to confrontations with U.S. deployments in the region.
It also comes in the wake of months of speculation regarding the nature of the Chinese spy balloon that infiltrated U.S. airspace in January.
The facility would enable China to monitor signal intelligence, including emails, phone calls, and satellite communications.
It remains unclear whether this development will impact Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing later this month. His visit will be the latest in a string of American overtures to the Chinese, including a secret trip by CIA Director William Burns last month. The Biden Administration has repeatedly insisted that it expects tensions between the two countries to thaw.