Cuba denies reports of US building spy station

The Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, reading a statement to journalists, said Cuba rejects all foreign military presence in Latin America, including the many US bases and troops Slander of this kind is often fabricated by US officials.

I've seen the press report, but I don't know if it's true. It's not accurate, he told MSNBC.

What I can tell you is that we have been concerned since day one of this administration about China's influence activities worldwide, certainly in this hemisphere and in this region, Mr. Kirby said.

We are watching this very closely, he said.

We are not aware of China and Cuba developing any kind of spy station, Ryder said, adding: The relationship that those two countries share is something that we continuously monitor. Democrats' Senator Mark Warner and Republican Marco Rubio, who chair the Senate Intelligence Committee and are usually briefed on important security matters, said they were deeply disturbed by the report.

The U.S. must respond to China's ongoing and brazen attacks on our nation's security, they said.

We must be clear that it would be unacceptable for China to establish an intelligence facility within 100 miles (160 km) of Florida and the United States. The news comes despite strained relations between Washington and Beijing over a variety of issues that include US support for self-ruled Taiwan, which China says it is determined to reunite with the mainland.

Xi Jinping has pushed for a rapid expansion of the country's security presence worldwide, aiming to match the vast expanse of the US military on all continents.

The United States would face the most direct challenge in Cuba, which lies 90 miles off Florida's southern tip.

The Soviet Union had electronic spying facilities in communist Cuba to spy on the US.

In 1962, when Moscow instituted nuclear missiles on Cuba, the US declared a quarantine of the island in a crisis that threatened to bring the two powers to war, until Moscow backed down.

Washington then demolished Turkey's nuclear-capable missiles, which the Soviets considered a threat to them.

Earlier this year China sent what the United States called a high-altitude surveillance balloon across the US. It flew from the west to east over sensitive military installations before being shot down by a US fighter jet.