China in Cuba: Nuclear-Armed Communists on the Warpath
by Gordon G. Chang • June 23, 2023 at 6:30 am
While Americans think of nukes as defensive instruments to deter attacks, Chinese war planners view them as offensive weapons, to compel submission. In other words, China thinks it can prevent others from coming to the aid of, say, Taiwan, by threatening nuclear destruction of their homelands.
With all the additional silos in China, why would the People's Liberation Army need missiles in Cuba? Think shorter flight times -- meaning less warning time.
All this means that, thanks to Cuba, a war in Asia will be fought on, near, and over the American homeland -- perhaps with nukes.
China, according to "fragmentary" U.S. intelligence reports, is about to establish a "joint military training facility" with Cuba on that island.
Chinese military personnel are already listening in on American communications from the Lourdes base near Havana and three other Cuban locations. Two of those locations have been known for some time: Bejucal and Santiago de Cuba. These facilities, it appears, have been in operation for all or most of this century.
"What is missing is the strategic aim of China's economic influence, which, in my opinion, goes beyond simply having a strong trade relationship with Latin America," Joseph Humire of the Center for a Secure Free Society told Gatestone. "At its core, the People's Republic of China is focused on gaining geopolitical leverage over countries in Central and South America to be used in an eventual conflict with the United States."
