Satellite images show one previously unreported site is located near a U.S. naval base in Cuba.
Cuba has upgraded and expanded four electronic surveillance facilities, including one near the Guantanamo Bay naval base, amid growing concern about China’s spying efforts in the United States’ backyard, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
“While China’s activities on the island remain shrouded in secrecy, satellite imagery analyzed by CSIS provides the latest and most comprehensive assessment of where China is most likely operating,” the report reads.
The report pointed to four active sites at Bejucal, El Salao, Wajay, and Calabazar. It added that the four locations are “strategically located” and are “among the most likely locations supporting China’s efforts to spy on the United States.”
In June 2023, the White House confirmed that China has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019. In the same month, the State Department warned that the Chinese regime will “keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba,” and the United States “will keep working to disrupt it.”
China’s surveillance activities in Cuba are a grave national security concern for the United States, given that Florida is home to numerous U.S. military bases, including the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command and the U.S. Southern Command, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and Eglin Air Force Base.
“Collecting data on activities like military exercises, missile tests, rocket launches, and submarine maneuvers would allow China to develop a more sophisticated picture of U.S. military practices,” the report reads.
Facilities
The facility near the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay has not previously been publicly reported, the report stated. It is located east of the city of Santiago de Cuba near a neighborhood called El Salao.
The El Salao facility, under construction since 2021, appears to be a circularly disposed antenna array (CDAA) with an estimated diameter of 130 to 200 meters (about 425 to 655 feet), according to the report. CDAAs of that size could track and determine the origin and direction of high-frequency signals coming from 3,000 to 8,000 nautical miles away, the report added.
