GOP hits Biden over report of planned Chinese spying base in Cuba

Republicans are hitting President Biden following a Thursday report that China has reached a deal with Cuba to pay several billion dollars to build an eavesdropping facility on the island nation, though the Cuban and U.S. governments have denied the news.

If materialized, the facility, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, would become the closest foreign adversary military base to the U.S. mainland.

The Pentagon has denied the alleged deal, with Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder calling the report “inaccurate” during a Thursday briefing. 

“Certainly we know that China and Cuba maintain a relationship of sorts, but when it comes to the specific activities outlined in the press reporting, based on the information we have that is not accurate,” Ryder said at the briefing. “We are not aware of China and Cuba developing any type of spy station.”

Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío issued a strongly worded statement, calling the newspaper’s information “totally mendacious and unfounded.”

Republicans, nonetheless, have sounded the alarm about the alleged plans for the eavesdropping facility, with some placing blame on Biden’s administration. 

House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said in a statement that reports of the alleged facility follow other surveillance attempts, adding, “We must use every tool available to counter and deter China’s aggression.”

“The Biden administration must take note that China’s military operations are not limited to the Indo-Pacific. China’s military is at our doorstep, in North America and throughout South America, and we cannot afford to ignore or overlook the threat,” Rogers said. 

2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused Biden of “twiddling his thumbs” in response to Chinese aggression and “needs to wake up.”

“This month alone, China has harassed & threatened a U.S. fighter jet & naval ship. Now, it’s putting a spy base in Cuba. President Biden is twiddling his thumbs, worrying about China’s green energy policies. Joe Biden needs to wake up to the real Chinese threats on our doorstep,” Haley tweeted.

The Biden administration has taken strong economic steps to curb China’s proliferation, including investing in American high-tech manufacturing and denying China access to advanced computer chips. After the United States shot down the Chinese spy balloon, Biden, in a speech to the House of Representatives made an uncharacteristically direct threat against China.

“Make no mistake: As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did,” Biden said in February. 

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) claimed Biden was “too weak” to combat China.

“America’s enemies know Biden is too weak to stand up against them, so they are taking advantage of the hospitality offered by the illegitimate communist regime in Cuba,” Scott said in a statement. “This move by Communist China presents grave threats to America’s national security that cannot be ignored. Every American should be up in arms about this.”

Other lawmakers took a more bipartisan approach in response to the news. Senate Intelligence Select Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) issued a joint statement calling on the Biden administration to take action to prevent the reported deal from materializing. 

“We are deeply disturbed by reports that Havana and Beijing are working together to target the United States and our people. The United States must respond to China’s ongoing and brazen attacks on our nation’s security,” they wrote.

“We must be clear that it would be unacceptable for China to establish an intelligence facility within 100 miles of Florida and the United States, in an area also populated with key military installations and extensive maritime traffic. We urge the Biden administration to take steps to prevent this serious threat to our national security and sovereignty,” they added.