China negotiating with Havana about joint military training facility in Cuba

The officials were granted anonymity to discuss a highly classified intelligence issue. The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the negotiations.

The revelation comes on the heels of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to China where on Monday he met with paramount leader Xi Jinping. While both men said the talks were fruitful, though devoid of clear deliverables, China refused to reestablish military-to-military communications like Washington wanted.

“I think it’s absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, military to military,” Blinken told reporters Monday. “That imperative, I think, was only underscored by recent incidents that we saw in the air and on the seas.”

Ten days ago, the Biden administration admitted China had a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, after initially saying — without elaboration — that the reporting on negotiations over such a base by the Wall Street Journal, POLITICO and other outlets was “inaccurate.”

Trump administration officials insist they were not aware of intelligence on the spy base while they were in office. But during a Sunday appearance on CNN, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he “would not be surprised” by China’s actions.