China, Cuba Planning Joint Military Facility: US Officials

Current and former U.S. officials have confirmed that China and Cuba are in negotiations for a new joint military facility on the island that could eventually bring Chinese troops and intelligence operations to the island located 100 miles off the coast of Florida.

The news comes after the White House said The Wall Street Journal's reporting earlier this month that the two nations had reached an agreement in principle for an eavesdropping site in Cuba was inaccurate.

Still, the publication reported Tuesday that U.S. intelligence reports are suggesting that discussions for a joint military facility, which had not been previously reported, are in advanced stages but not concluded.

The White House on June 10, two days after dismissing the reports on the China-Cuba plans, declassified intelligence information and confirmed that China has had intelligence collection facilities in Cuba since at least 2019.

Meanwhile, administration officials are in contact with Cuban officials to try to stall the deal with China. The White House declined to comment specifically on the latest reports, but an official told the Journal Monday that the Chinese government "will keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba, and we will keep working to disrupt it."

The news comes as the administration is trying to calm tensions with China, including with Bejing's plans for Latin America and the Caribbean, and over U.S. support for Taiwan.

According to a statement from the State Department, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while on his visit to China over the weekend, raised concerns about China's intelligence activities in Cuba.

During his trip, which included a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Blinken could not secure an agreement with China for a proposal that would resume communications between the two countries' militaries in hopes of avoiding misunderstandings.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials told the publication that references to a proposed military training facility in Cuba are part of highly classified new intelligence that is being interpreted by policymakers and analysts.

A new facility would allow China to permanently house troops in Cuba while expanding intelligence-gathering operations, including eavesdropping, against the United States.

The facility is said to be part of the Chinese "Project 141" initiative established by the People's Liberation Army for expanding the country's global military base and support network, one current and one former U.S. official, both unnamed, commented.

There are already four Chinese-Cuban eavesdropping stations on the island after a single station expanded from a single station in 2019 to create a network of four sites. They are operated jointly, but Chinese involvement has grown, the officials said.

A former U.S. official said there are several other Project 141 sites, including deals for outposts in Cambodia and at a port in the United Arab Emirates. China has also been working on a facility in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, for gathering signals intelligence.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, when asked in Beijing about the Cuba negotiation, said, "We hope that relevant parties can focus more on things that are conducive to enhancing mutual trust and regional peace and stability development."

Cuba's embassy, which called the Journal's reporting earlier this month "mendacious and unfounded," did not return a call for comment on the latest information.

A U.S. intelligence official said an increase in coordination between China and Cuba will go "slowly," and that the intelligence community has known for several years that the PRC is planning to expand its reach globally.

However, the official said that it is "premature to draw firm conclusions about recent reporting" as "it does not appear to be anything that provides much of an enhancement to the current suite of capabilities."

Several officials also said Cuba had good reason to move carefully, as it is trying to get Washington to ease sanctions and travel restrictions on the nation.