The Wall Street Journal first reported that Chinese and Cuban officials had reached an agreement for the spy base, with Beijing slated to pay several billion dollars for the facility.
CNN has also reported the arrangement, but U.S. officials are denying those reports.
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder called the reports “inaccurate” during a briefing on Thursday.
“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.
“We are not aware of China and Cuba developing any type of spy station,” Ryder added.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also called the reports “not accurate” in an interview with MSNBC.
Meanwhile, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said the reporting was based on “unfounded information.”
“We reject any foreign military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean,” de Cossío said in a statement.
Any Chinese spy base in Cuba would pose a serious threat to U.S. national security, allowing Beijing to pick up on emails, phone calls and satellite communications.
Florida is home to U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base.
China has just one overseas base, located in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, though secret Chinese police stations have reportedly operated across the world, including on the U.S. mainland.
The U.S. has a rocky relationship with the communist regime of Cuba, which has allied with American adversaries before.
The Soviet Union once operated a signals intelligence base outside of Havana, a site that closed down in 2001. Soviets also once planned to stash nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962, a decision it later withdrew after a standoff with Washington.
Following the news on Thursday, Republicans slammed the Biden administration for what they called a failure to stop Chinese aggression.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the 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 in a statement. “We must use every tool available to counter and deter China’s aggression.”
We have more on the story available at TheHill.com.
