Ron DeSantis Statement on Reported Chinese Military Installation in Cuba

Governor Ron DeSantis released the following statement in response to reports that China plans to establish an eavesdropping facility in Cuba:

"China is growing its worldwide influence because Joe Biden is weak.

Joe Biden and his administration's feckless foreign policy emboldens the CCP around the globe---seeking platitudes while Xi inks a deal for Chinese intelligence and military access in America's backyard. Biden's refusal to secure our border has allowed Chinese-produced fentanyl to kill our children. And recently, Biden allowed a Chinese spy balloon to fly over the United States with zero consequences for Beijing.

America's national interests are not advanced through performative diplomacy."

BACKGROUND

• DeSantis has noted that checking the growth and rise of China should be our first foreign policy priority.

o "And I think overall, the number one issue that we face internationally is checking the growth and the rise of China." (DeSantis Interview, Fox News, 3/22/23)

• DeSantis wrote in "The Courage to Be Free" that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) covered up the existence and origins of COVID-19 and noted how U.S. dependency on China for critical needs during COVID was unacceptable. 

• DeSantis has cracked down on the CCP as governor. 

o DeSantis in May of 2023 signed the strongest legislation in the nation to counteract the threat of the Chinese Communist Party. This legislation prevents Chinese entities from buying farmland in Florida, protects Florida's digital data from CCP spies, prohibits Chinese influence in higher education, and blocks access to TikTok on government and educational institution devices.

o DeSantis in September of 2022 "announced executive action and legislative proposals to address threats posed by the CCP and other hostile foreign powers in cyberspace, real estate, and academia."

o DeSantis in December of 2021 "revoked all proxy voting authority that has been given to outside fund managers, to clarify the state's expectation that all fund managers should act solely in the financial interest of the state's funds, and to conduct a survey of all of the investments of the Florida Retirement System to determine how many assets the state has in Chinese companies."

• DeSantis took a strong stance against China while in Congress.

o In 2014, DeSantis cosponsored the Affirming the Importance of the Taiwan Relations Act. 

o In 2016, Desantis cosponsored a resolution expressing concern regarding persistent and credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of China.

o In 2017, DeSantis cosponsored the Taiwan Travel Act. This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. government should encourage visits between U.S. and Taiwanese officials at all levels.