Washington rejects report on Chinese listening station in Cuba

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John Kirby, ex-admiral and communications director of the United States National Security Council.

Photo: Susan Walsh / AP

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has denied reports that China wants to build a spy station in Cuba. "We have seen the press report. It's not accurate," Kirby said in an interview with MSNBC. The former admiral did not give any details, nor did he want to elaborate on what exactly was wrong with the text.

The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that China had concluded an espionage agreement with the island nation of Cuba. The newspaper cited U.S. intelligence circles. The listening station on the Caribbean island, which would cost several billion US dollars, was supposedly intended to intercept shipping traffic as well as communications in the southeastern United States.

Kirby said the National Security Council is concerned about Chinese intelligence activities around the world, "certainly in this region, and we're watching it very closely." We have and will do everything we can to contain any threat to the United States.

When explicitly asked by the moderator, he repeats almost verbatim: "We have seen the report. He is not accurate" – it seems as if this two-liner is the statement agreed in the National Security Council, around which he winds a few garlands of phrases as spokesman. In addition, the statement becomes unclear because the English word "accurate" used by Kirby can be translated as "accurate" or "precise", but also as "correct" or "correct".

No comment from the Chinese Embassy in Washington

A spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told Reuters: "We have no knowledge of the case and therefore cannot comment at this time." The Cuban government did not respond to a request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal report comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing. The U.S. supports the island nation of Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province. In the waters off the island, a Chinese and a US warship came dangerously close to each other, before the two great powers had reproached each other at the Shangri-La conference in Singapore.

The rapprochement between China and Cuba brings back memories of the Cuban missile crisis. At that time, the island state was closely allied with the Soviet Union. In 1962, the world was on the brink of nuclear war after Moscow deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba.

mgo/Reuters