Expanded spy stations in Cuba suggest the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is attempting to monitor United States military activities and potentially intercept commercial communications, according to a July 2024 report from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The study follows a 2023 report by The Wall Street Journal newspaper that the PRC was paying Cuba billions of dollars to build a spy base. The U.S. later revealed it has tracked Cuba-PRC intelligence-gathering efforts in place on the island since before 2019 and that Washington had taken steps to protect against the PRC’s actions.
“We remain confident that the United States is going to be able to meet our security commitments …” Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department, told reporters after the CSIS report was published.
“PRC activities in Cuba have been going on for decades, and … we know that the PRC is going to keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba and the United States is going to keep working to disrupt it. And this is a space that we are closely monitoring, and we’ll take appropriate steps to counter it when necessary.”
CSIS, by examining satellite images taken in March and April 2024, identified four sites in Cuba — all capable of conducting electronic surveillance via antennae, radar dishes and other equipment — that underwent recent expansion or construction.
Their proximity to the Southeastern U.S. and to major military installations could mean the PRC hopes to develop a “more sophisticated picture of U.S. military practices,” CSIS reported. While military communication is highly encrypted, the PRC could be looking for information on the frequency or origin of such traffic.
Studying launches from NASA’s nearby Kennedy Space Center “is likely of keen interest to China as it attempts to catch up to U.S. leadership in space launch technology,” according to CSIS analysts.
An increase in space-monitoring equipment at one site in Cuba is notable, CSIS reported, because Cuba has no satellites or space program. The equipment is probably there to monitor the activities of other nations with a presence in orbit, according to the think tank.
The PRC could also hope to intercept commercial communication, such as information on the U.S.’s aerospace, electronics and biotechnology research and manufacturing, sectors Beijing’s has previously targeted.
The PRC technology development strategy depends on cyberattacks, human spying operations, electronic surveillance and other means of intellectual property theft — a strategy to save the time and money it would take to rely on indigenous capabilities.
The U.S. has tried and convicted Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spies for stealing trade secrets related to aviation, aerospace and other technology. The CCP’s most advanced military aircraft are widely believed to incorporate elements stolen from the U.S., as well as from Russia, the PRC’s supposed “no-limits” ally. Researchers have accused Beijing of stealing intellectual property from dozens of companies across Asia, Europe and North America.
Cuba and the PRC have denied collaborating on spy bases, with Beijing resorting to its familiar accusation of U.S. “smearing.” Neither regime has addressed the satellite imagery CSIS used in its report.
