China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a joint military training facility

20 June, 2023 Flags of China and Cuba, 2008. Photo credits: AP/Javier Galeano China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a joint military training facility 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reported on this. The WSJ, citing sources in US intelligence, claims that discussions on the contract to set up a Chinese military training facility on the territory of Cuba have not yet been completed, although they are in the final stages. Biden`s administration contacted the Cuban authorities to try to stop the implementation of the agreement.

According to the WSJ, Washington's concern about China's ambitions in the Caribbean and Latin America is growing at a time when the United States is trying to reduce tensions in relations with the People's Republic of China.

Cuban and Chinese military, 2021. Photo from open sources

In early June, the WSJ reported that China and Cuba have reached an agreement to construct a new intelligence facility in Cuba. At the time, the White House called the reports inaccurate.

US authorities later declassified data confirming that Chinese intelligence facilities have been in place in Cuba since at least 2019. A representative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington claimed that he knows nothing about such agreements between China and Cuba. He added that the US is an "expert in ghost hunting" in other countries and meddling in their internal affairs.

The Cuban Embassy in Washington called the WSJ report false and unsubstantiated.

People's Liberation Army ship in the port of Havana, Cuba, 2015. Photo credits: AP/Ramon Espinosa

Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, stated that this information was intended to destabilize the situation in Cuba and justify American sanctions against the country. Some U.S. intelligence officials note that China sees its actions in Cuba as a geographic response to the U.S. approach to Taiwan.

The WSJ previously reported that the US has sent more than 100 military personnel to Taiwan to train soldiers.