Government officials in the United States are scrambling to figure out how to react after learning that communist China intends to construct a military facility in northern Cuba, around 100 miles off the coast of Florida.
China and Cuba are reportedly at an “advanced stage” of negotiations for a new joint military base, according to The Wall Street Journal.
According to U.S. sources who spoke to the Journal, the prospective military complex is covered by “highly classified new U.S. intelligence.”
The base may allow China to station troops permanently on the island and step up its collaboration with Cuba on anti-American intelligence operations.
According to the article, the initiative is a part of “Project 141,” a Chinese military strategy that intends to increase China’s military footprint globally. China had never attempted Project 141 in the Western Hemisphere before the recent revelation that it plans to construct a base there.
According to some American officials, China’s increased presence in Cuba is a reaction to American backing for and involvement in Taiwan, which is located around 100 miles off China’s coast.
Other government representatives disputed the Journal’s findings, including their story from earlier this month about China and Cuba working together to construct spy stations with an eye on the United States.
According to a U.S. intelligence official, “it is too soon to draw solid conclusions from the latest information in this case. The intelligence community has determined for a number of years that the PRC plans to broaden its reach globally. It doesn’t seem to be anything that significantly improves the present set of capabilities at this time.”
According to The Journal, China and Cuba have agreed to create an electronic eavesdropping station there. The contract is apparently worth billions of dollars and would enable China to develop a facility that can monitor communications in the southeast United States, which is home to several military sites. The Chinese surveillance facility may also track the movement of American ships.
