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What Should the US Do About China’s Spy Facility in Cuba?

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Flashpoints | Security | East Asia

What Should the US Do About China’s Spy Facility in Cuba?

News that China plans to establish a signals and electronics intelligence station on the island carries echoes of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

What Should the US Do About China’s Spy Facility in Cuba?
Credit: Depositphotos

In early June, a Wall Street Journal report revealed a deal worth “several billions of dollars” between the Chinese and Cuban governments to install a signals and electronics intelligence (SIGINT and ELINT) collection facility at the western end of the island in Bejucal, about 160 kilometers away from the U.S. mainland.

The move provided a flashback to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, in which the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. At that time, the Soviets also had an intelligence collection base on the island.

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