{"id":1475464,"date":"2024-07-05T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T21:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1475464"},"modified":"2024-07-05T17:05:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T21:05:00","slug":"suspected-chinese-spy-bases-in-cuba-have-undergone-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/suspected-chinese-spy-bases-in-cuba-have-undergone-expansion\/1475464\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected Chinese Spy Bases In Cuba Have Undergone Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Suspected Chinese Spy Bases In Cuba Have Undergone Expansion<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

By Frank Fang of Epoch Times<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Cuba has upgraded and expanded four electronic surveillance facilities, including one near the Guantanamo Bay naval base, amid growing concern about China\u2019s spying efforts in the United States\u2019 backyard, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile China\u2019s activities on the island remain shrouded in secrecy, satellite imagery analyzed by CSIS provides the latest and most comprehensive assessment of where China is most likely operating,\u201d the report<\/a> reads.<\/p>\n

Chinese Navy ship Type 054A frigate 548 Yiyang moors at the port of Havana on Nov. 10, 2015. <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The report pointed to four active sites at Bejucal, El Salao, Wajay, and Calabazar. It added that the four locations are \u201cstrategically located\u201d and are \u201camong the most likely locations supporting China\u2019s efforts to spy on the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June 2023, the White House confirmed that China has been operating a spy base in Cuba<\/a> since at least 2019. In the same month, the State Department warned<\/a> that the Chinese regime will \u201ckeep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba,\u201d and the United States \u201cwill keep working to disrupt it.\u201d<\/p>\n

China\u2019s surveillance activities in Cuba are a grave national security concern for the United States, given that Florida is home to numerous U.S. military bases, including the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command and the U.S. Southern Command, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and Eglin Air Force Base.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollecting data on activities like military exercises, missile tests, rocket launches, and submarine maneuvers would allow China to develop a more sophisticated picture of U.S. military practices,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n

Facilities<\/h2>\n

The facility near the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay has not previously been publicly reported, the report stated. It is located east of the city of Santiago de Cuba near a neighborhood called El Salao.<\/p>\n

The El Salao facility, under construction since 2021, appears to be a circularly disposed antenna array (CDAA) with an estimated diameter of 130 to 200 meters (about 425 to 655 feet), according to the report. CDAAs of that size could track and determine the origin and direction of high-frequency signals coming from 3,000 to 8,000 nautical miles away, the report added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce operational, this CDAA will serve as a powerful tool for enhancing air and maritime domain awareness in the region, where the U.S. military and its international partners operate regularly,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n

If China had access to the El Salao facility, CSIS noted Beijing would obtain a \u201chighly strategic point\u201d near the Guantanamo Bay naval base.<\/p>\n

The report added that China has been building new CDAAs on its militarized outpost on Mischief Reef and Subi Reef<\/a> in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

The facilities in Bejucal, Wajay, and Calabazar are all near Cuba\u2019s capital Havana, according to the report.<\/p>\n

The Bejucal facility is Cuba\u2019s largest active signals intelligence collection site, the report said, and added that it has been connected to suspected Chinese intelligence activities for decades.<\/p>\n

Based on satellite images from March 2024, CSIS concluded that the Bejucal facility has \u201cundergone major updates\u201d in the past decade, signaling \u201ca clear indication of an evolving mission set.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report also pointed to the \u201cgrowth of space-monitoring equipment\u201d at Bejucal and Calabazar, meaning that these two facilities are \u201clikely intended to monitor\u201d space-active countries, like the United States.<\/p>\n

NEW#China<\/a> appears to be operating 4 electronic, signals intelligence sites in #Cuba<\/a> to spy on the US, per a @CSIS<\/a> @HiddenReachCSIS<\/a> report based on satellite imagery pic.twitter.com\/MfnDGl3Mgy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) July 2, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

The Wajay facility has also expanded in the past 20 years, going from one antenna and several small buildings in 2002, to 12 antennas of various sizes and orientations and a \u201crobust complex,\u201d according to the report. CSIS said that there have been unsubstantiated rumors that China \u201cplayed a role in either the [Wajay] site\u2019s construction or its modernization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if China does not have direct access to facilities there, the data collected by Cuban counterparts could be readily shared with Beijing,\u201d the report reads, noting that two U.S. blacklisted Chinese tech firms, Huawei and ZTE<\/a>, make up \u201cthe backbone of Cuba\u2019s telecommunications infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responses<\/h2>\n

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Cuba\u2019s ruling Communist Party have deepened their ties over the years.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the two countries signed a cooperation plan<\/a> to push forward construction projects under China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). According to the State Department, China\u2019s BRI \u201cpreys on other countries via unsustainable and corrupt lending while ignoring global labor and environmental standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report<\/a> naming Cuba as one of several countries that China is reportedly considering setting up military installations.<\/p>\n

He Weidong, vice chairman of China\u2019s top military body, the Central Military Commission (CMC), met with Cuban General V\u00edctor Rojo Ramos, in China\u2019s capital in April. According to China\u2019s official military news website, the two talked about how China and Cuba enjoyed an \u201cunbreakable friendship\u201d and should support each other\u2019s \u201ccore interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Biden administration and some Republican lawmakers from Florida have responded to CSIS\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n

continue reading at Epoch Times<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 07\/05\/2024 – 13:05<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/markets\/suspected-chinese-spy-bases-cuba-have-undergone-expansion<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Suspected Chinese Spy Bases In Cuba Have Undergone Expansion By Frank Fang of Epoch Times Cuba has upgraded and expanded four electronic surveillance facilities, including…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1475465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1475464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1475464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1475465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1475464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1475464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1475464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}