Billion-dollar “Chinese base” claims denied

Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio said in statements to the press that the news was not true at all and that said news was deliberately disseminated to justify the United States sanctions against Cuba.

Emphasizing that the United States is trying to destabilize the island with “baseless” and “false” accusations, Cossío said: “US officials often fabricate such slanders. Apparently, it is intelligence that does it. There is no justification for the hostility of the United States towards Cuba, the extreme and brutal measures that harm humanity,” he said.

Cossio added that the Cuban government rejects “any military presence” in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the US base in Guantanamo.

THE ALLEGED WALL STREET JOURNAL CLOSED

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that, citing “US officials familiar with highly classified intelligence,” it was claimed that China had colluded with Havana to set up an electronic listening facility in Cuba.

Consequently, the Chinese intelligence services have established a spy facility in Cuba, some 100 miles (161 kilometers) from the US state of Florida, in addition to electronic communications such as email, phone calls and satellite messages in the southeastern states where Many US military bases are located. The line will also be able to monitor ship traffic.

In exchange, China will pay “a few billion dollars” to Cuba, which has liquidity problems. In the WSJ report, it was claimed that the two countries had reached an agreement “in principle” within this framework.

The news also claimed that this development on the Beijing-Havana line alarmed the Joe Biden administration.

THE WHITE HOUSE ALSO DENIED

White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby, while refraining from commenting specifically on this news, said they are aware that China is involved in investment activities in infrastructure that can be used for military purposes in all over the world, including the United States.

Kirby stated that they closely monitor such activities from China and take necessary steps both in the US and around the world to counter this.

“This is not true,” John Kirby, the White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, said of the news that China will establish a base in Cuba to monitor the United States.
Kirby answered questions on a television show he attended.

Kirby noted that they are closely monitoring China’s influence activities in the region where the US is located and will continue to take steps to reduce potential threats in this context.

On the other hand, Kirby noted that they wanted to keep communication channels with China open and said that they hoped that Foreign Minister Antony Blinken would be able to visit Beijing and that they wanted this to happen. (AA)