US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on June 12 that the Biden administration has taken diplomatic steps to slow China's efforts to flex its military muscle around the world, ahead of a visit to Beijing this weekend, Reuters reported.

Mr. Blinken was asked about the US response to a report from The Wall Street Journal last week that China had set up a spy base in Cuba to spy on the US. When asked about the veracity of the speculation, he did not comment on the veracity of the speculation. Instead, he said that China’s activities in Cuba are part of Beijing’s global effort to expand its presence abroad.

Both China and Cuba have denied the report from The Wall Street Journal.

According to Mr. Blinken, the US's activities to address this issue since Mr. Biden took office in 2021 have brought results. He did not specify what those results were, according to Bloomberg news agency.

"We took that approach quietly, carefully. But our assessment since then is that it has worked. I can't go into every step that we've taken, but the strategy starts with diplomacy," Blinken said.

According to him, experts assess that US diplomatic efforts have slowed down China's espionage efforts.

The US secretary of state added that the administration of former President Donald Trump knew about China upgrading its intelligence-gathering facilities in Cuba in 2019 but that efforts to address the issue at the time were “insufficient”.