Flashpoints | Security | Southeast Asia

Expanding the Military Footprint: China’s New Air Base in Laos

Establishment of the Laotian base follows a pattern in China’s growing external military presence and access. 

As China’s power and self-confidence grows, it’s becoming much more active in projecting that power by establishing military bases abroad. The latest is at Ban Keun Airport near Vientiane, where China has established a joint support and training facility with Laos, according to a September announcement by the Ministry of National Defense in Beijing.

It is the first overseas military facility that China has openly acknowledged, unlike the ones in Djibouti and Cambodia. This has several implications for the region.

But first, the base itself. Satellite imagery procured and analyzed by CNN shows a 2,000-meter-long runway, taxiway, and parking apron for 22 aircraft. CNN also reports rapid construction at the site. Other media reports mention that satellite photos show eight aircraft, likely Chinese-Pakistani Hongdu JL-8 training and light attack jets (also called K-8s), and more than two dozen support vehicles. Laos is known to own this type of aircraft, but fewer than the eight seen at the facility. Laos could have bought more, or the extras may be Chinese.

China has said that the facility is strictly for training Lao air force pilots, “enhancing practical military cooperation,” and “promoting regional peace and stability.” This sounds reasonable enough, but it conflicts with China’s own previous positions on foreign military facilities. It has been a vocal critic of the global U.S. military presence.

Establishment of the Laotian base follows a pattern in China’s growing external military presence and access. China established its first overseas military facility in Djibouti in 2017, maintaining then and now that it is merely a logistical facility. This is still its most distant foreign military base, sitting astride the crucial waters overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait leading to the Red Sea.

Closer to home, a Washington Post story in 2022 revealed that China was upgrading the Cambodian Ream Naval Base, with the Chinese military being given “exclusive use” of parts of it. China and Cambodia initially denied the report, but last year they formally inaugurated the facility. Soon warships from both countries visited it, conducting joint military drills. Though the base is not very far from China’s own territory, it’s on the strategically crucial Gulf of Thailand and........

© The Diplomat