China has developed multiple spy facilities in Cuba: US think tank

China has developed multiple spy facilities in Cuba, less than 100 miles from Florida, according to a US think-tank report.

China has historically lacked access to ground stations in North America. Accessing installations in Cuba could help close that gap, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think-tank, said in a report which gives satellite images from the region.

Cuban facilities would also provide the ability to monitor radio traffic and potentially intercept data delivered by US satellites as they pass over highly sensitive military sites across the southern United States, CSIS said.

Florida alone is home to the major space-launch complex at Cape Canaveral, the headquarters of both the US Southern Command and Central Command, and multiple submarine and other bases, it added.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder, at a news conference, said China had completed an upgrade of its facilities in Cuba in 2019. "We know that the PRC is going to continue to tr