Senate Republicans Introduce Bill to Counter China-Cuba Partnership

Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) speaks dueing a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Review of the FY2023 State Department Budget Request" in Washington on April 26, 2022. Al Drago/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Five Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have introduced legislation to counter the threats posed by China’s presence in Cuba.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s deepening military and intelligence partnership with Cuba directly threatens U.S. national security,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the committee’s ranking member, said in a Nov. 7 statement announcing the bill’s introduction.

Mr. Risch added: “The fact that China has multiple intelligence facilities in Cuba less than 100 miles from our shores and in close range to a U.S. military base proves there is no ‘thaw’ in relations with either of these malign actors. The CEASE Act will provide the tools necessary to counter these urgent threats.”

The relationship between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Cuba’s ruling Communist Party came under scrutiny in June when the White House confirmed that China has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019. Later, the State Department warned that China “will keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba.”

The timing of the legislation comes as China and Cuba appear to have deepened their ties in recent weeks, culminating in a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Cuban Prime Minister Miguel Marrero Cruz in China on Nov. 6. Moreover, it comes as a record number of Chinese illegal immigrants crossed the U.S. southern border in the fiscal year 2023, sparking concerns that these individuals could engage in espionage on U.S. soil.

The Republican senators’ bill—the “Countering Espionage and Surveillance Entities in Cuba (CEASE) Act” (S.3225)—would authorize financial and visa sanctions on foreign individuals engaging in significant transactions, significant dealings, or providing material support to or for Chinese military and intelligence facilities in Cuba, according to the bill.

If enacted, the bill would also require the secretary of state to submit a report to appropriate congressional committees annually. According to the bill, the report would include diplomatic engagement between China and Cuba, military and intelligence activities of China in Cuba, and any progress toward the verifiable closing of Chinese military and intelligence facilities in Cuba.

Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Ted Cruz (T-Texas) joined Mr. Risch in introducing the bill.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks at a news conference on the Supreme Court at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on July 19, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

“China is the single greatest geopolitical threat facing the United States ... over the next century,” Mr. Cruz said in a statement about the bill. “As part of their efforts to erode the safety and security of Americans, China is cooperating with American adversaries across the world, including throughout the Western Hemisphere.

“Their cooperation with the brutal Cuban regime is incredibly dangerous, and the United States must use all the tools at our disposal to counter it,” he added.

‘Perverse Model’

The bill highlighted close ties between China and Cuba by citing a 2018 report by the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

“China maintains a strong relationship with Cuba that is characterized by frequent senior-level meetings and technical assistance provided by China’s military to Cuba’s military,” the report said. “China reportedly has a physical presence at multiple Soviet-era intelligence facilities at Lourdes, Bejucal, and Santiago de Cuba to collect signals intelligence.”

When anti-government protests erupted in Cuba in 2021, Cuban military and police forces responsible for clamping down on demonstrators were known to have received “counter-terrorism” training from the Chinese paramilitary, known as the People’s Armed Force.

Cuba is also one of the participating nations in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure project the CCP launched in 2013 to build up its geopolitical influences worldwide. In 2021, Cuba expanded its involvement in the BRI by signing a new agreement with China to cooperate in various sectors, including communications and technology.

Some experts have said that Beijing sees the BRI as the backbone of a new world order it is trying to create.

Last month, Ricardo Cabrisas, Cuba’s deputy prime minister and foreign trade and investment minister, visited China and met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. According to China’s state-run media, Mr. He told Mr. Cabrisas that China was ready to deepen BRI cooperation.

On Monday, Mr. Xi met with Mr. Marrero. According to China’s state-run media, the Cuban prime minister pledged to further strengthen cooperation with China and “advance their respective socialist cause.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks during a press conference in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on July 11, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, responded to Monday’s meeting in an X post, saying, “Let there be no doubt: the criminal dictatorship in Cuba and China’s genocidal regime want to solidify their perverse model throughout our region.”

China-Cuba ties also came into focus after the Florida Highway Patrol detained 20 illegal immigrants, including 17 Chinese nationals, who made landfall in Key Largo by boat on Oct. 22. The incident prompted Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), whose district includes Key Largo, to express concerns about China building “greater ties” with Cuba, in an interview with the Daily Mail.

“That really kind of concerns me that now they’re trying to make their way in through the Keys—my part of the country,” Mr. Gimenez said. “I understand that the Chinese are having more and more influence. More and more infrastructure projects more and more activity in our hemisphere, especially in in Cuba.”

In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended 24,048 Chinese nationals at the southern border. The number is a huge increase from 1,970 arrests in fiscal year 2022 and 323 in fiscal year 2021.