Fortress America

China’s Spies Move to Cuba

Gordon G. Chang is a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a member of its advisory board, and the author of The Coming Collapse of China. He writes: “Forget Europe or the hotspots of East Asia and the Middle East; Marco Rubio’s first foreign trip as secretary of state took him to one Caribbean and four Central American states. The tour tells us that the Trump foreign policy is focusing on the region closest to the American homeland.

That is bad news for the leftists and hardline regimes in the Western Hemisphere, especially the Republic of Cuba and its new patron, the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese military is firmly embedded in a country not far from Key West, Florida.

The Wall Street Journal reported that China and Cuba had agreed in principle to establish a new eavesdropping site on Cuban soil. The Biden administration termed the story inaccurate, but two days later the White House declassified intelligence showing that Chinese signals intelligence collection facilities had been operating in Cuba since at least 2019.

Washington had repeatedly tried to downplay Chinese involvement on Cuban soil, and the declassification was, as a practical matter, misleading. It is not clear when China first started collecting signals intelligence, commonly termed SIGINT, in Cuba, but it was evident that the effort began more than a decade before 2019.

“Rumors of China’s intelligence presence on the island appear to have begun with Chi’s visit,” states a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), referring to a trip by Gen. Chi Haotian then, then the Chinese defense minister, in 1999.

R. Evan Ellis of the U.S. Army War College told Gatestone Institute that the Chinese may have been engaged in this activity in Cuba since 1993. Some believe that the Chinese military moved into the Lourdes facility, the Soviet Union’s largest listening post outside its territory, soon after the fall of the USSR.

Cuba provides China an ideal location to surveil the United States. “Sitting less than 100 miles south of Florida, Cuba is well-positioned to keep watch on sensitive communications and activities, including those of the U.S. military,” the CSIS report states. “The southeastern seaboard of the United States brims with military bases, combatant command headquarters, space launch centers, and military testing sites.”

The CSIS study identifies four likely Chinese listening posts in Cuba. There are two from the Soviet era, Calabazar and the Lourdes facility near Bejucal. One, Wajay, appears to have been built after the fall of the Soviet Union. There is also a brand new one, El Salao.

China wants to do more than just collect SIGINT.

“China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a new joint military training facility on the island, sparking alarm in Washington that it could lead to the stationing of Chinese troops and other security and intelligence operations just 100 miles off Florida’s coast,” the Wall Street Journal reported in June 2023.

The base in Cuba would be part of the People’s Liberation Army’s Project 141, an effort to expand global operations. China denied the Wall Street Journal reporting, calling it “totally mendacious and unfounded.” In any event, since the paper’s article, there has been no confirmation that the Chinese military has actually built or obtained access to such a site.

Perhaps one explanation is that the Biden administration pressured both Havana and Beijing to back off. As a White House official at the time stated, the Chinese government “will keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba,” and Washington “will keep working to disrupt it.”

Could China and Cuba, which last year declared an “unbreakable friendship,” use their SIGINT cooperation as a foundation for what CSIS calls “a more overt military and defense partnership with Havana”?

At the moment, Cuba needs Chinese cash and might therefore accede to granting China greater access to the island. The Cuban regime, after all, is enduring its worst economic crisis since at least the Soviet collapse. Russia, its old patron, is tied down by the war in Ukraine and troubled by recent setbacks in the Middle East. Vladimir Putin, therefore, is not able to help much.

Chinese ruler Xi Jinping has considerable resources at his disposal, but he also has costly ambitions and his regime is groaning under the weight of what Yale’s Paul Kennedy famously termed “Imperial Overstretch.” Worse, Xi’s seemingly mighty economy is suffering. China’s slowdown is more serious than any other since the Cultural Revolution, which ended in 1976 with the death of Mao Zedong. It is not clear, therefore, how far the Chinese friends will go in rescuing their Cuban comrades.

China made great strides in the Caribbean when the United States was not paying attention. No U.S. president since the beginning of the 20th century— Trump 45 included—focused on the area as much as Trump 47.

Rubio, however, is focused on the Caribbean basin, as the itinerary for his first trip shows. Moreover, the new secretary of state is apparently willing to use raw U.S. power to strong-arm countries.

On his first stop of his first trip, Rubio told Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino that the United States was taking a new approach to the canal. The United States’ top diplomat, according to spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Feb. 2, “made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty.”

Whether or not Rubio was threatening to use force—the United States, in what is called the Neutrality Treaty, reserved the right to do that in the Canal Zone—his words produced immediate results: Mulino announced that Panama would not renew its Belt & Road memorandum with China and might even end the existing deal before its scheduled expiration.

The United States is unlikely to use force against Cuba over listening posts, but Trump and Rubio are not about to let the Chinese military take control of a country so close to the American homeland. Cuba should expect intense pressure, so China is probably at high tide in that country.”

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China’s Rare Earths Aren’t as Rare as You Think

Marian L. Tupy is founder and editor of Human Progress.org and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. He writes: “China responded to President Trump’s tariff hikes with a series of retaliatory measures. On April 4, among other moves, Beijing suspended the export of some of the 17 rare-earth metals and magnets that are vital to American defense, energy and automotive industries.

The commentary that ensued revealed profound anxieties about alleged Western vulnerabilities. The New York Post accused the Chinese of “ kneecapping US industry.” The BBC declared that the communist nation had dealt “a major blow to the US,” while the Economist warned that China’s control of rare earths was a “weapon that could hurt America.”

These commentators have a point. According to the International Energy Agency, China produces about 61% of rare-earth minerals, and it processes 92%. The anguished reaction from the American press, however, revealed a measure of obliviousness. The reality is that America has been here before.

Fifteen years ago, following a dispute with Tokyo over contested waters, China imposed a rare-earth embargo on Japan, while cutting its rare-earth export quotas to the rest of the world by 40%. Beijing’s actions rang alarm bells across the industrialized world. Prices of the rare-earth metals spiked, with cerium soaring from $4.15 a kilogram in January 2010 to $150.55 in July 2011. American defense analysts warned that Beijing was exploiting a strategic vulnerability. U.S. manufacturers scrambled for alternatives to the minerals, which play a crucial role in everything from wind turbines to precision- guided missiles.

The panic seemed justified. At the time China controlled 93% of global rare-earth production and more than 99% of the most valuable heavy rare earths. Congress convened a hearing on China’s rare earths monopoly, with Rep. Don Manzullo (R., Ill.) saying that Beijing’s action “threatens tens of thousands of American jobs.”

The narrative was compelling: An authoritarian power was wielding its mineral wealth as a geopolitical weapon, putting a resource-hungry West at its mercy. Yet few people re--member this supposed strategic calamity today.

Market mechanisms undermined China’s attempt at resource leverage. In the early 2010s, supply growth outside China accelerated. Projects already in development by Molycorp in California and Lynas in Australia ramped up, adding tens of thousands of metric tons of production capacity. By 2014 China’s market share of rare earths had fallen from more than 90% to about 70%.

China’s export quotas also proved surprisingly porous. Producers exploited loopholes by shipping minimally processed alloys exempt from restrictions, while an estimated 15% to 30% of production was smuggled through neighboring countries. Beijing’s inability to police thousands of small miners fatally undercut its embargo.

Manufacturers displayed remarkable adaptability. Refineries temporarily substituted alternative catalysts, and magnet producers optimized alloys to use less rare earth material, some even switching entirely to new technologies. This “demand destruction” blunted the crisis’ effect even before new supplies could fully come online. Prices that had spiked in 2011 quickly retreated to pre-crisis levels.

The 2010 episode revealed fundamental constraints on attempts to use raw materials as geopolitical weapons. While China retains significant market share, the U.S. defense industry has reduced its reliance on rare earths to a minimum (the equivalent of less than 0.1% of global demand), and weapons programs maintain inventories to buffer temporary supply disruptions.

Despite their name, rare earths are quite abundant. Cerium is the 25th most common element on Earth. At 68 parts per million of Earth’s crust by weight, it is more abundant than copper. Rare earths are “rare” because of geochemical dispersion. They tend to remain evenly mixed rather than found in their pure form. They also pose ex--traction challenges, since they are usually bound up in a handful of mineral hosts that often contain radioactive thorium or uranium. That is what makes rare-earth deposits relatively scarce.

That can sometimes translate into environmental challenges when it comes to teasing out the needed elements. But such concerns must at times give way to national-security considerations. Similarly, free trade and friendly relations with allies who produce rare earths at scale, such as Canada, should be a higher priority than unrealistic and counterproductive spats over national sovereignty and illegal border crossings.

More broadly, as the U.S. navigates new supply-chain anxieties in semiconductors, critical minerals and pharmaceutical ingredients, we should remember the rare-earth crisis that never was—a testament to the resilience of global markets and human innovation in the face of attempted economic coercion.

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Apple, MP Materials to Expand US Rare-Earth Supply Chain

Wesley Brown is a long-time business and public policy reporter based in Arkansas. He has written for many print and digital publications across the country. He writes in The Epoch Times: “Apple and MP Materials announced on July 15 a $500 million deal to expand the nation’s only rare- earth processing plant, supporting the production of recycled magnets that will help power Apple smartphones and other devices.

Under the agreement, MP Materials will supply Apple with magnets manufactured at its Fort Worth, Texas, facility— known as Independence—using recycled rare- earth feedstock processed at MP Materials’ Mountain Pass site in California.

Apple stated that the commitment is part of the company’s pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the United States in the next four years.

“American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we’re proud to deepen our investment in the U. S. economy,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. “ Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States.”

Rare- earth magnets are crucial components in smartphones, computers, wearables, and other electronic devices, as well as in vehicles, robotics, and energy systems. The feedstock will be sourced from post-industrial and end-of-life magnets.

“ This collaboration deepens our vertical integration, strengthens supply chain resilience, and reinforces America’s industrial capacity at a pivotal moment,” MP Materials Chairman and CEO James Litinsky said.

According to the agreement, Apple and MP Materials will develop a factory in Texas, with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines, specifically for Apple products. The new equipment and technical capacity will enable MP Materials to significantly increase its overall production.

The Apple deal comes after the Las Vegas- based rare- earths miner announced a public-private partnership with the Department of Defense ( DOD) on July 11 to strengthen the country’s rare- earth magnet supply chain and reduce U. S. reliance on China and other nations.

That multibillion- dollar investment package and long-term commitments from the DOD will enable MP Materials to build a second end-to- end domestic magnet manufacturing plant, called 10X Facility, at a location to be chosen soon, serving both defense and commercial markets.

MP Materials also has a similar agreement with General Motors to supply U. S.- sourced and manufactured rare earth materials, alloy, and finished magnets for the electric motors in more than a dozen models manufactured by the Detroit automaker.

In January, MP Materials broke ground for its 200,000- square-foot rare- earth processing facility in Fort Worth, which is expected to gradually ramp up production later this year.”

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Reach and Maintain Self-Sufficiency

The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes: “The United States must endeavor to enter into reciprocal, free-trade agreements with all of the world’s democracies, en bloc, that are fair and balanced, as a counter-weight to the state-run economies of the Axis of Evil and their supporters, who manipulate currencies, subsidize industries, and dump product on world markets that undercut legitimate industries.

The United States must become self-sufficient in the raw materials required for a highly industrialized economy, with a special emphasis on rare-earth metals needed for the electronics industries. Private research and development of alternatives to the rare earths being hoarded by the Axis of Evil must be economically encouraged by all democracies.

The United States, in cooperation with the world’s democracies, must employ our own armies of digital warriors to protect our digital pathways safe, and to counter-attack any attempts to penetrate our digital defenses. The American digital industry dwarfs the rest of the world in size and capability. They must be tasked with developing impenetrable defenses for ordinary Americans and America’s industries using all the tools available, such as AI, foolproof identification, and rapid, destructive counter-attacks to place attackers in jeopardy.

America’s industrial base; commercial manufacturing industries, shipyards, aerospace industries, energy companies, must be rebuilt to be able to support the American lifestyle and the many global missions of the Armed Forces, on a continuing basis. Required goals, such as the 600 ship Navy, and the ability to send weapons systems to allies in need from reserve stocks, so as not to draw down American reserves.

America must reach and maintain fossil fuel independence, using all available sources of fossil fuels. Industries must be encouraged to develop cost-effective measures to reduce pollution. Tax policy must be introduced to encourage research and development in all industrial areas. A Value Added Tax must replace the income tax so that the productivity of every American can be maximized, to drive GDP ever higher in order to meet these economic goals.

America must prepare to thrive during the Long War that China intends to win.”

Next time: Americans Don’t Even Realize That We Are In A War With The Axis Of Evil