China Wants to Set Up a Spying Post in Cuba

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at China’s effort to establish a spying post in Cuba, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s indictment, and the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia.

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China’s latest attempt to spy on the United States may be coming to Washington’s own backyard. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cuba has made a secret pact to allow China to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility focused on collecting signals intelligence from the United States on the island. That would mean Chinese intelligence could monitor emails, phone calls, satellite transmissions, and shipping traffic along the southeastern United States from a location roughly 100 miles off Florida’s coastline, potentially enabling Beijing to obtain intelligence from top U.S. military bases—including U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, and Fort Liberty in North Carolina.

The base’s exact location and when it may be built are still unknown, but sources familiar told the Journal that China paid Cuba several billion dollars to construct the planned facility. The U.S. Defense Department and Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio both denied the report’s accuracy, with Fernández de Cossio calling the report “totally mendacious and unfounded information.” Beijing did not directly address the allegations, saying it was “not aware” of the situation and then accusing the United States of “spreading rumors.” Several other media outlets, including CNN, have since corroborated the Journal’s initial reporting. The top Democrat and Republican on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee issued a joint statement on Thursday, saying they are “deeply disturbed” by the reports and calling on the Biden administration “to take steps to prevent this serious threat to our national security and sovereignty.”

A Cuban signals base would not be Beijing’s first attempt to keep a watchful eye on its biggest diplomatic and economic rival. On Feb. 1, a Chinese spy balloon was spotted over Montana, alarming many Americans and prompting numerous U.S. lawmakers to issue grave threats against Chinese foreign influence efforts. In total, at least five Chinese spy balloons have been tracked across U.S. airspace since 2017. This also comes at a time when Beijing has invested billions of dollars into artificial intelligence development and other technological arms races, FP’s Rishi Iyengar reported, resulting in a “Cold War arms race dynamic.”

Trump indicted. For the first time in history, a former U.S. president is facing federal criminal charges. The U.S. Justice Department indicted Donald Trump on 38 counts late Thursday—including withholding national defense information, concealing the possession of classified intelligence, and making false statements—in connection with more than 100 classified documents found in Trump’s custody after he left office. Trump denied any wrongdoing. He is set to appear in a Miami federal court on Tuesday.

On Friday, CNN reported that prosecutors in the case have obtained a 2021 audio recording in which Trump acknowledges that he kept “secret” military documents from his time in office that he had not declassified, including one detailing a Pentagon plan to attack Iran. On the recording, rustling can be heard as if he was waving a paper around, but it is unclear whether it was the actual Iran document he claims to have kept.

Game on. The long-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive appears to be underway following a major assault on occupying Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeast Ukraine, on Thursday. This follows months of Ukrainian troop mobilization efforts, including a campaign for more Western-supplied weapons and ammunition, as well as a devastating breach this week of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam. Top Kyiv officials have not confirmed the counteroffensive’s start, but Western reporters on the ground have spoken to Ukrainian military service members who said the operations have begun. Russia’s defense minister said as many as 1,500 Ukrainian troops and 150 armored vehicles had attempted to break through Russian army lines.

Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence released Friday suggests Iran is supplying Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing facility east of Moscow. Reports of such a plant first emerged last December but were merely conceptual at the time. Despite the West’s condemnation of Iranian military support of Russia, including a slew of sanctions against Iranian drone companies in recent months, “officials concede that there are no realistic avenues to stem the flow of Iranian military goods into Russia for it to deploy to Ukraine,” FP’s Robbie Gramer reported in March.

More aid suspended. The United Nations World Food Program announced on Friday that it was temporarily suspending food aid to Ethiopia following an investigation revealing a “widespread and coordinated” campaign to divert humanitarian supplies away from the civilians who need them. Instead, food donations are being sold on Ethiopia’s open market or given to military officials and ex-combatants. The U.N. decision follows a similar suspension the day before by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

According to an internal memo, Ethiopian federal and regional government officials appear to be orchestrating the diversion; however, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration continues to deny involvement. Globally, northern Ethiopia ranks in the top 10 regions most suffering from hunger, with nearly 4 million children severely malnourished there.

Bye, bye, Boris. With COVID-19 scandals breathing down his neck, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned from his parliamentary seat on Friday. Johnson had been under investigation for potentially having misled Parliament about attending gatherings while the United Kingdom was in lockdown. The scandal, which the British press dubbed “Partygate,” spurred a series of high-profile Conservative resignations.

By stepping down, Johnson avoids a House of Commons vote on his conduct as well as a special election for his seat—which he might have lost. “It is very sad to be leaving Parliament—at least for now—but above all, I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out,” Johnson said.

Which political party won the gubernatorial election in Mexico’s State of Mexico, which surrounds Mexico City, over the weekend?

A. National Action Party
B. Morena
C. Institutional Revolutionary Party
D. Ecologist Green Party of Mexico

Hong Kongers were in for a ducking surprise on Friday with the return of two almost 60-foot inflatable yellow ducks in Victoria Harbor. The pop-up art installation, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, last appeared 10 years ago—long before China imposed a harsh national security law, snuffing out democracy in the territory, and before COVID-19 struck. Back then, it was just one giant duck. This time, there are two floating in the harbor. “Double duck, double luck,” Hofman told The Associated Press. “In a world where we suffered from a pandemic, wars, and political situations, I think it is the right moment to bring back the double luck.”

B. Morena

The party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Morena’s strong showing bodes well for general elections in July 2024, FP’s Catherine Osborn writes in Latin America Brief.

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