Beijing’s Air, Space, and Maritime Surveillance from Cuba: A Growing Threat to the Homeland
Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Cybersecurity
2025-05-06
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Source: Congress.gov
Summary
This hearing investigates the expanding partnership between the Chinese Communist Party and Cuba, situated just 90 miles from the U.S. coastline, which raises significant homeland security concerns. Witnesses detail evidence from satellite imagery and open-source reports of Chinese signals intelligence facilities in Cuba, including sites at Beihukal, Wahai, Kalabasar, and El Salao. These facilities, alleged to collect data on U.S. military operations, shipping, and communications, are seen as a modern evolution of Cold War-era foreign influence. Key concerns include the use of Chinese state-owned tech companies like Nuketech and Huawei/ZTE in Cuban infrastructure, enabling cyber surveillance and data interception. The hearing also highlights how China's economic investments and dual-use projects in Cuba—alongside broader BRICS influence—present strategic threats to U.S. maritime and supply chain security. Witnesses urge urgent action, including classified briefings for Congress, hardening of U.S. infrastructure, and strengthening regional alliances to counter these threats.
Participants
Transcript
The Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security will come to order. Without objection, the Chair may declare the Subcommittee in recess at any point. Today's hearing continues the important oversight work we began in February by taking a closer look at the Chinese Communist Party's growing footprint in Cuba and the implications for U.S. homeland security. With Beijing ramping up its economic, military, and intelligence operations just 90 miles from our coastline, this is no longer a distant challenge. It's an immediate concern for the security of the American people. The United States must urgently understand the full extent of this threat. Ensure that the Department of Homeland Security and its interagency partners are equipped to address it and take a hard look at our broader strategic partner throughout the Caribbean and the Western Hemisphere. I now recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement. Good morning. Today the Subcommittee convenes to examine an alarming threat developing just 90 miles off our coast. Mounting evidence suggests that the Chinese Communist Party is expanding its strategic partnership with the totalitarian communist regime in Cuba to build advanced surveillance infrastructure capable of targeting the United States. This collaboration represents one of the most brazen intelligence operations ever attempted near the American mainland and places our military operations, commercial activity, and communications squarely in the crosshairs of a hostile foreign power. Recent satellite imagery and open-source analysis suggest the presence of several Chinese-funded signals and intelligence facilities across Cuba. The possibility that these sites are capable of monitoring U.S. military operations, commercial shipping, space launches, and sensitive communications is deeply troubling. Southeastern United States is home to some of the most critical assets in our nation's security infrastructure. From the Space Launch Center at Cape Canaveral to the headquarters of U.S. Southern Command in Miami, this region plays a critical role in our defense posture. This region includes my own district, which has long been on the front lines of threats emerging from the Cuban regime.
If the Chinese government is in fact leveraging a growing partnership with Cuba to collect intelligence on our activities, that is a threat that we can no longer ignore. Cuban's government has a long history of working with foreign adversaries to undermine the United States. What we are potentially witnessing today is a new and dangerous phase of that cooperation that is fueled by Havana's economic desperation and Beijing's strategic ambition. Cuban regime remains a state sponsor of terrorism, harbors fugitives from the U.S. justice system, and relentlessly suppresses the rights of its own people. Its growing reliance on foreign authoritarian powers like China only adds to the danger. Over the past several months, I have taken steps to raise alarms about the malign activities of the Communist government of Cuba. In March, I sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security questing an investigation into individuals in the United States suspected of links to Cuban intelligence and the Communist Party. These networks have long operated on U.S. soil and may now be intersecting with China's activities in the region. Shortly after, in April, I sent a letter to the Department of Treasury calling for a full suspension of U.S.-Cuba travel and remittances with appropriate humanitarian exceptions. We should not be funding a regime that turns around and opens its doors to our greatest adversaries. If reports of rising Chinese activity in Cuba are accurate, then it is no longer just a diplomatic issue. It is a direct security risk to the American people. This hearing is the first step in understanding the scope of this threat. Today, our witnesses will help us assess the potential scale of the threat and what measures the federal government should take to stay ahead of it. We need to be clear-eyed about the risks and both swift and unified in our response. The United States cannot afford to overlook the possibility that a hostile foreign power is working hand-in-hand with a communist dictatorship in Cuba to employ advanced surveillance capabilities on our doorstep. It is our responsibility to ensure that the homeland remains secure, and not just from what we can see, but from what may be gathering just out of sight.
I want to thank our witnesses for appearing before the subcommittee. I look forward to a productive discussion on how the United States can counter the Chinese Communist Party and their suspected surveillance efforts in Cuba and prevent our adversaries from gaining a strategic foothold so close to our homeland. I now recognize the ranking member, the gentleman from New Jersey, Ms. McIver, for her opening statement.
Good morning. Thank you, Chair. Thank you to our witnesses for joining us today. The threats posed by the People's Republic of China towards the United States require serious attention, as China works aggressively to gain a foothold within the Caribbean. In Cuba, China has provided almost $8 billion in monetary incentives over the past 20 years, seeking to strengthen ties with the country just 90 miles from U.S. shores. China has invested heavily in Cuba's infrastructure, technology, communications, and biotechnology. Within the transportation and marine time sectors, Cuba has benefited from China's partnership by gaining security equipment for airports, seaports, and customs facilities. New Tech Company, a Chinese state-owned company, has provided inspection technology to be installed throughout much of Cuba's transportation networks. The Department of Homeland Security has assessed that new tech screening systems likely have deficiencies in detection capabilities in China. I'm sorry, excuse me. The Department of Homeland Security has assessed that new tech screening systems likely have deficiencies and detection capabilities, and that China could potentially access the systems remotely to gather intelligence on shipping, manifest, and passenger information.
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