‘Expanded rapidly’: Congress sounds alarm on suspected Chinese spy bases just 90 miles off U.S. coast

Two House committees called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday to provide a classified briefing addressing the threat of multiple suspected Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spy installations throughout Cuba, according to a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The letter, sent by the House Homeland Security Committee and House Select Committee on the CCP to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, requests a formal threat assessment from the department regarding at least four signals intelligence (SIGINT) installations in Cuba the Chinese government “is establishing, or has already established.” The suspected Chinese spy installations are as close as 90 miles off the U.S. coast, the letter warns, positioning them to intercept sensitive intelligence from Kennedy Space Center, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, which sits just 70 miles from one of the sites in question.

The letter was signed by five Republican representatives including House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mark Green of Tennessee, Select Committee on the CCP chairman John Moolenaar of Michigan, Carlos Gimenez of Florida, Sheri Biggs of South Carolina and Eli Crane of Arizona.

“It is vital for Congress to have the necessary information to counter the growing threat of the CCP’s intelligence operations just 90 miles from the homeland,” Green told the DCNF. “We cannot stand by as the CCP and the authoritarian Cuban regime become more politically and economically intertwined, especially as Beijing works to build up capabilities to wage electronic and information warfare that directly undermines U.S. national security.”

Three of the suspected Chinese spy installations are clustered around Cuba’s capital of Havana in nearby Bejucal, Wajay and Calabazar, according to a July 2024 Center For Strategic & International Studies report cited in the letter. A fourth site is reportedly on the southeast corner of the island in the neighborhood of El Salao within the city of Santiago de Cuba.

“The security risks posed by these developments are particularly acute across the air, space, and maritime domains,” the letter states. “By fusing telemetry interception, geospatial intelligence collection, and electromagnetic surveillance, [China] is positioning itself to systematically erode U.S. strategic advantages without ever firing a shot.”

The installations have all “exhibited signs of development in recent years,” with the Bejucal base, for example, now featuring a “circular disposed antenna array” and “repositioned satellite dishes,” which suggest a “focus on long-range, wideband electromagnetic surveillance,” according to the letter.

“Collectively, these developments reflect a deliberate expansion of [China’s] surveillance infrastructure in the Western Hemisphere and signal a long-term investment in asymmetric capabilities near U.S. shores,” the letter states.

Since 2000, China has provided Cuba with almost $8 billion to finance various infrastructure projects across the island, such as a sprawling telecommunications network built by Huawei and Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation, “both of which have been sanctioned by the U.S. government for their roles in global surveillance and repression,” according to the letter.

The U.S. government has slapped Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation (ZTE) and Huawei with a number sanctions in recent years, such as a November 2022 ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prohibit U.S. sales and imports of equipment from both companies, citing an “unacceptable risk to national security.”

“The integration of these technologies into Cuba’s digital infrastructure raises the specter of regional communications exposure to [Chinese government]-linked platforms,” the letter states.

In light of China’s apparent growing presence within Cuba, the committee’s letter requests for DHS to provide a classified briefing as well as written responses for five questions related to the department’s analysis of the suspected Chinese installations and its ongoing countermeasures.

In addition to requesting a general overview of DHS’s “current assessment of [China’s] intelligence-gathering operations in Cuba,” the letter also presses the department to detail “known or suspected infrastructure developments” at the suspected sites.

Other questions in the letter probe whether or not DHS has taken steps to coordinate with entities inside and outside of the U.S. government to counter the suspected threat. One such question asks DHS to detail the “extent and effectiveness of DHS’s interagency coordination efforts, particularly with the Department of Defense, the [intelligence community], and the Department of State, to monitor, analyze, and counter [China’s] intelligence and security activities in Cuba.”

A related question inquires as to whether or not DHS has taken steps to “raise awareness among industry and government entities about risks related to [China’s] surveillance platforms in Cuba.”

China is “the only competitor to the United States with the intent and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order,” according to the Department of Defense. Chinese espionage “expanded rapidly” in the U.S. during the Biden administration, with at least 59 “CCP-related” criminal cases occurring in the homeland between February 2021 and August 2024, according to a House Committee On Homeland Security “China Threat Snapshot” first reported by the DCNF in October 2024.

“If left unchecked, [China’s] activities in Cuba could establish a forward operating base for electronic warfare, enable intelligence collection, and influence operations that directly undermine U.S. national security interests,” the letter warns.