According to White House spokesperson John Kirby, the United States has expressed its concerns to the Cuban government regarding the hosting of Chinese spy operations on Cuban soil. Kirby acknowledged that the current bilateral relationship with China is tense, but emphasized President Joe Biden’s commitment to maintaining open lines of communication.
On June 12, during a White House briefing, Kirby stated that recent reports of a Chinese spy base in Cuba would not likely impact Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned visit to China later in the week.
“Nothing’s changed about the fact that we understand the bilateral relationship with China is tense right now and nothing’s changed about the fact that the president wants to keep the lines of communication open with the PRC, we talked about this last week, some of the important lines of communication, military to military are not open. We want to get them back open,” Kirby said during the briefing.
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Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported statements from U.S. officials claiming that China was engaged in a new spying endeavor in Cuba. However, China denied these allegations on Monday, asserting that it was not utilizing Cuba as a base for espionage activities.
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In response to the situation, Blinken informed reporters on Monday that China’s actions in Cuba were part of its broader global strategy to expand its overseas presence. Nevertheless, he claimed that U.S. actions under the Biden administration since January 2021 had effectively slowed down these efforts.
