The Wall Street Journal reported that the Wall Street Journal has reached an agreement in principle on the deal, which involves China paying Cuba billions in exchange for space to build and run the facility.

John Kirby told the Journal that, “While I can’t speak directly to this report, we’re well aware of the People’s Republic of China’s investments in infrastructure in the world, which may have military applications, including here in the hemisphere.” “We are monitoring it closely and taking steps to counteract it. We remain confident that we can meet our security obligations at home, around the globe, and in the region.”

News of the story comes amid rising tensions between China and the United States. China rejected a meeting of U.S. military officials with Chinese military officials in recent months and has aggressively positioned its military forces on the South China Sea. This led to clashes with U.S. military deployments in this region.

The announcement comes after months of speculation about the Chinese spy ball that was found infiltrating U.S. airspace back in January.

This facility will allow China to monitor signals intelligence including email, phone calls and satellite communications.

This development is not known to have any impact on Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing scheduled for later this month. This will be another in a series of American outreach to China, which includes a secret visit by CIA director William Burns last week. The Biden administration has insisted repeatedly that tensions between China and the United States will thaw.