China and Cuba are in talks to establish a joint military training facility, which could lead to Chinese troops being stationed on the island, U.S. intelligence reports indicate.
The Biden administration has contacted Cuban officials to try and derail the plan, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reported that the China-Cuba negotiations relating to the facility are at an advanced stage but not complete. Cuba, which is communist too, is about 100 miles away from Florida.
China’s communist leadership has increased defense ties with several Latin American nations over the past decade, but the purported Cuba training facility talks have not previously been disclosed. The Washington Times was unable to immediately verify The Wall Street Journal report, which cited officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
News of the development sparked concern in Washington on Tuesday, a day after Secretary of Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials in Beijing. The meetings are part of the Biden administration’s attempt to cool friction with China.
Pentagon officials Tuesday would not address the specifics of the report but acknowledged they were aware of Chinese efforts to establish a foothold closer to the U.S. mainland. U.S. military and intelligence agencies have extensive surveillance systems positioned close to China’s borders and coasts, a point of significant irritation for Beijing.
“What we do know and what we have seen is [China] continuing to express interest in the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters. “We know they want to expand their military presence, and so we are going to continue to monitor that. We feel we will have the resources needed to counter any further actions if they decide to take any, but at this time there’s nothing I can add to those reports.”
Pressed on military preparations for an expansion of the China-Cuba relationship, Ms. Singh said: “We feel very confident in our capabilities.”
While tensions are most notably high over China’s pressure campaign against Taiwan, Beijing’s efforts to ramp up spying and military activities targeting the U.S. have also been a source of growing concern.
Tuesday’s developments come just weeks after Biden administration officials said intelligence community is monitoring a Chinese spy base in Cuba that Beijing has been operating since 2019. That revelation came in the wake of tensions surrounding a Chinese spy balloon that crossed U.S. airspace in February before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
Beijing, which is reported to have offered billions of dollars to cash-strapped Cuba in exchange for hosting Chinese spying and military activities, has accused Washington of hyping the developments.
National security analysts have described the geopolitical posturing between China and the U.S. as a new kind of Cold War.
Several nations across Latin America have found themselves in the midst of economic, diplomatic and political competition between Washington and Beijing.
China currently has no combat forces in Latin America. The Wall Street Journal report noted that the U.S. has dozens of military bases throughout the Pacific, where it stations more than 350,000 troops — a factor that Beijing often points to when pushing back on American efforts to contain China’s military and economic rise.
Cuba’s government is battling a deep economic crisis. After the Trump administration reinstated trade and travel sanctions, Cuba is suffering an economic slump, with widespread shortages of food, fuel and medicine that have prompted a record-breaking outflow of migrants to the U.S. in the last year. China is Cuba’s largest single export market.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was in Italy on Tuesday, meeting with Pope Francis and with representatives of the U.N. food agency officials, traveled to both Russia and China late last year, meeting with Mr. Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Ben Wolfgang contributed to this report.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.