We recently looked at some of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s comments to Antony Blinken about “understandings” that he had established with Joe Biden. There was even talk of a possible upcoming visit to the United States, potentially including a meeting with the President. That seemed to offer the perception of a willingness on Xi’s part to thaw relations between the two countries and ease tensions. But at the same time, we learned that the Chinese were allegedly working to establish a spy base in Cuba, right off of our southern shore. And now, in an even starker contrast with Xi’s words to Blinken, it’s being reported that China is working with the Cubans to establish a “joint military training base” in Cuba. Which, if you hadn’t already deduced it, would mean that China would be stationing its own troops barely one hundred miles from the shores of Florida and barely outside of our territorial waters. (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)

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, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Discussions for the facility on Cuba’s northern coast are at an advanced stage but not concluded, U.S. intelligence reports suggest. The Biden administration has contacted Cuban officials to try to forestall the deal, seeking to tap in to what it thinks might be Cuban concerns about ceding sovereignty. Beijing’s effort to establish a military training facility in Cuba hasn’t been previously reported.

As of last night, the White House had not responded to requests for comment on this report. That seems to follow a behavioral pattern inside the Biden administration. They remained silent for days when news of the spying station became public and initially said the reports were “inaccurate.” They later backtracked and said that the Chinese have had one or more listening stations in Cuba since at least 2019.

Electronic spying is one thing, but the potentially permanent presence of troops there is another matter entirely. The proposal is being described as part of what China calls its “Project 141.” It’s an ambitious plan to establish a global network of linked military and naval bases around the world, with a particular focus on Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. More broadly, the Chinese Communist Party is pushing to expand both its military and economic influence in all of those regions, peeling off former allies and partners of the United States.

There is an odd parallel here between what’s going on in Cuba and the situation between Russia and Ukraine. It has long been the position of the Russians that NATO expansion up to their borders was an unacceptable threat. Some have compared it to the question of what we would do if Russia or China stationed troops in either Mexico or Canada near our borders. Surely a response would be required.

Mexico and Canada are highly unlikely to allow such an action. (At least for now.) Mexico’s government has obvious corruption issues and Canada is becoming downright socialist. But they both still rely too heavily on the United States for both economic trade and military protection.

Not so with Cuba. That nation remains what could only be described as an adversary of the United States, despite Barack Obama’s ill-fated efforts to normalize relations with them during his second term. Cuba seems to be aligning more closely with China these days and they’ve always had a cooperative relationship with the Russians. (Does anyone remember a little incident known as the Cuban missile crisis?)

So what, if anything, will we do about this? Is there anything short of a direct military attack that we actually could do? Or is this just more of the “new normal” under Joe Biden’s disastrous foreign policy failures? Even if there is a possible plan on the table, it would require Biden’s full approval and cooperation. And the more we learn about Biden Inc., the more plausible it seems that the President is compromised when it comes to China and he may fear taking any actions in response that would provoke Beijing. And it’s possible that this is precisely what Xi Jinping is counting on.