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The White House clarified Saturday that China has operated a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, according to The Wall Street Journal, following reporting that Beijing reached a tentative agreement to set up a new operation somewhere on the island country.
The White House on Friday had characterized as “inaccurate” the WSJ’s first report of a planned Chinese surveillance outpost in Cuba focused on intercepting electronic communications, including emails and radio transmissions, in the southeast U.S. However, White House officials told the outlet Saturday that the Biden administration has worked to tamp down on China’s repeated attempts to spy on the U.S. since Biden took office, and said China has had a surveillance operation in Cuba since at least 2019.
“This is an ongoing issue, and not a new development, and the arrangement as characterized in the reporting does not comport with our understanding,” the White House told the WSJ, referencing the outlet’s prior reporting.
After coming into office, the administration received briefings in 2021 from intelligence officials regarding Beijing’s global intelligence agenda, including efforts to establish surveillance sites in the the Atlantic Ocean, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and the Indo-Pacific, according to the WSJ.
“This effort included the presence of PRC intelligence collection facilities in Cuba,” the administration official, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue, said, according to Politico. “In fact, the PRC conducted an upgrade of its intelligence collection facilities in Cuba in 2019. This is well-documented in the intelligence record.”
That effort is ongoing as of today, the White House said.
Beijing “will keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba, and we will keep working to disrupt it,” an official told the WSJ. The U.S. has taken steps to “slow down” China’s progress in creating an intelligence foothold around the world, including in Cuba, adding that the Trump administration efforts were deemed insufficient.
“This is an issue that this administration inherited,” the official said, Politico reported.
“We think the PRC isn’t quite where they had hoped to be,” the White House added, according to Politico. “Our experts assess that our diplomatic efforts have slowed the PRC down.”
Issued a statement as Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence w/ Chairman @MarkWarner after reports China & Cuba reached an agreement allowing 🇨🇳 to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island, less than 100 miles from FL.https://t.co/zF1uewIpL7 pic.twitter.com/6I5AVjFfQM
— Senator Marco Rubio (@SenMarcoRubio) June 8, 2023
Information on the Chinese spy operation and Cuba’s role in planning appeared in classified intelligence reporting only in recent weeks, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. That intelligence has been shared with some lawmakers on intelligence committees.
Republican Rep. Michael Warner of Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said the reports have been contradictory in a statement to Politico following the Saturday report.
“In less than 48 hours, officials from the Biden administration have contradicted themselves multiple times about whether or not the Chinese Communist Party is spying on the United States. This is unacceptable,” he told the outlet.
China is “not aware” of a new spy base in Cuba, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday, accusing the U.S. of “chasing shadows and meddling in other countries’ internal affairs.”
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Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker
