China using Cuba for suspected espionage, experts warn Congress

Experts testified before a House of Representatives Homeland Security subcommittee on Tuesday about suspected Chinese espionage activity in Cuba, about 90 miles offshore from Florida. Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., began by citing what he characterized as mounting evidence that the Chinese Communist Party developed a partnership with Cuba in order to surveil the United States. He cited recent satellite images and data analysis and described the suspected partnership as one of the most brazen intelligence operations ever attempted near mainland America.

Ranking subcommittee member Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., acknowledged concerns around China working to gain a foothold in Cuba, noting that China spent nearly $8 billion in financial incentives to grow ties with Cuba since 2005. McIver alleged that the Trump administration’s budget cuts weakened national security by defunding a number of projects that she said combat authoritarian governments, including Cuba. She also said she took issue with powers President Donald Trump had given Elon Musk, whose deep Chinese ties are cause for concern, she said.

Who testified? Director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Dr. Ryan C. Berg, spoke about China’s surveillance intelligence capabilities and pointed out at least four suspected espionage hubs in Cuba located on satellite images. America’s adversaries are at her doorstep, he said. Berg recommended a number of measures to combat Chinese spy efforts, including bolstering American infrastructure against Chinese signal collection operations and enlisting regional allies who are also at risk.

Allison Center for National Security’s Latin American senior policy analyst Andrés Martínez-Fernández discussed the alarming influence China has on the Caribbean region and Latin America as a whole. China has unusually large embassies in other Caribbean nations like Antigua and the Bahamas, along with intelligence sites in Argentina and other South American countries, Martínez-Fernández said. He emphasized the importance of geographic proximity for China’s goal of destabilizing the United States. The government needs to leverage American allies in Latin America and the Caribbean to counterbalance Chinese espionage. He suggested boosting the U.S. military around Puerto Rico and increasing economic engagement with countries in the region to decrease their economic dependence on China.

Associate Director of Florida International University's Gordon Institute for Public Policy Leland Lazarus spoke to China’s strategic use of Cuba and how state-owned tech has infiltrated the island nation. China targeted Florida with signal intelligence outposts and airport scanning equipment from Nuctech, a Chinese tech firm partially owned by the Chinese government. Nuctech technology is installed across Cuban airports, seaports, and customs offices, giving China access to any sensitive information that enters the country. Lazarus noted that the United States lacked a strategic vision for the region, leaving the Caribbean open to China’s influence. The United States’ agenda for the Caribbean has been on a crisis-to-crisis basis and lacks a long-term vision for countries that China is preying upon, he explained. In contrast, China is executing a 21st-century espionage playbook with port infrastructure, space surveillance, and digital authoritarianism, and Havana is the operational site, Lazarus added.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on American officials pushing Panama to curtail Chinese influence.