US Secretary of State Antony Blinken credited US diplomacy with slowing down China’s efforts to expand its military power and espionage activities globally. Blinken made this statement prior to his upcoming visit to Beijing. He responded to questions about the Wall Street Journal report on new Chinese spying operations in Cuba and discussed the US response.
According to Blinken, Chinese activities in Cuba are part of their broader global expansion efforts. He stated that since President Joe Biden took office, US actions to address this issue have yielded results, although he did not specify what those results were. Blinken referred to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) when mentioning the assessment made by US experts that diplomatic efforts have hindered China’s espionage attempts.
China denied using Cuba as a base for spying on Monday.
Blinken mentioned that the US was aware of China’s 2019 upgrade of intelligence-collection facilities in Cuba during the Trump administration. However, he noted that efforts to address this issue at the time were not making sufficient progress.
The incoming Biden administration was briefed on Chinese efforts to expand their overseas logistics, basing, and collection infrastructure, allowing them to project and sustain military power over longer distances, including the Cuban upgrade, according to Blinken.
President Biden directed his team to adopt a more direct approach, which involved engaging with governments that might host Chinese bases and sharing information with them. Blinken emphasized that this approach, executed quietly but with results, has been driven by diplomacy.
US-China relations have recently been strained on various issues, such as Taiwan and Chinese espionage activities. China considers Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to capture the self-governed island. Incursions by Chinese fighter planes and drones into the Taiwan Strait’s median line have led to Taiwan scrambling its own fighter jets. The United States, as a major supporter of Taiwan, regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait. The differing positions of China and the US often put them at odds with each other.
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