A US intelligence official has unraveled that Chinese spy operations against the USA through Cuban territory are not a recent phenomenon but are in place for many years, at least since 2019. This disclosure comes days after China entered into a confidential deal with Cuba to build an eavesdropping facility on the island which is near Florida.
Figure 1 Image Source: Reuters
China’s covert operations
China has been infamous for its surveillance activities around the world, infiltrating into others’ territories through its technological operations to get a grip on sensitive information. Time and again the Chinese state has been involved in spying against its enemy states.
Figure 2 Image Source: Reuters
In the latest findings, it has come to notice that China has been using Cuba for its espionage purposes targeting the USA which it considers an obstacle in becoming the global hegemon. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday regarding the clandestine agreement between China and the Caribbean island country to develop a spying facility in the location which is in the vicinity of American territory. As part of the negotiations, China shall be offering billions of dollars to the economy which is submerged under a financial crunch.
Therefore, China has used the bait of money to trap the financially strained country which also considers the US as its adversary. Also, both countries are under authoritarianism which corroborates their like-mindedness. This has brought China adjacent to US territory and will facilitate the authoritarian regime of China to possess secret data.
“This is an ongoing issue and not a new development,” the Biden administration official stated. This report has been denied by both Chinese and Cuban authorities. Instead, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson blamed the US for “spreading rumours and slander” and called the US “the most powerful hacker empire in the world”.
The Cuban government has not been very quick in responding to the issue. On Thursday, Cuban vice foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio rejected the entire reconnaissance as “totally mendacious” and framed it as a US concoction aimed at justifying Washington’s decades-old economic sanctions against the island which isolated the country and plummeted its economic growth. He said Cuba dismisses all foreign military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean.
As per intelligence reports, China has been elevating its intelligence-gathering missions in Cuba since 2019. It is the Chinese strategy to upscale its intrusion activities to enhance its intelligence-collection abilities.
Mounting Tensions between China and USA
The suspected activities of China have been uncovered when Washington and Beijing were seeking to mitigate the tensions which grew after a Chinese high-altitude balloon reached US territory and was shot down in February. Because of this incident, Antony Blinken forestalled his trip to China which is likely to take place on 18 June.
Figure 3 Image Source: Getty Images
The uncertainty in Sino-American ties is not something new. Since the dawn of Biden’s presidency, the relations have been strained over different reasons. Last year, when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid a visit to Taiwan which China considers its inalienable territory annoyed Beijing.
Another instance that was bete noire was when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s sojourn in the US last month which included discussions with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. In addition, the speaker hosted the Taiwanese President at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in southern California.
Nonetheless, the USA is quite keen to thaw the relations with China
