China opens first overseas air force training centre in Laos
China has opened a joint air force support and training centre in Laos, in what marks its third overseas military outpost and a further expansion of the People’s Liberation Army’s presence in the region. The China-Laos Joint Support and Training Centre at Ban Keun Airport in Vientiane province, along with the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy, officially began operations on Wednesday, China’s Defence Ministry said.
The centre will be jointly maintained and operated by China and Laos, and is aimed at helping Laos strengthen the training of its air force pilots. The move adds an air power-focused facility to China’s overseas network after its naval base in Djibouti and a joint naval facility in Cambodia.
Laos Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Khamlieng Outhakaysone attended the inauguration ceremony, and a delegation from the Chinese military also took part, the ministry said in a statement. It said the construction and operation of the facilities were based on mutual respect and equal consultation. “They comply with domestic laws of both sides as well as relevant international law and international practice, and do not target any third party,” it said. “They will help further strengthen practical cooperation between the two militaries and safeguard regional peace and stability.”
The wording is almost the same as the statement China issued last year when the China-Cambodia Joint Training and Support Centre was officially opened at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base. Brian Hart, deputy director of the CSIS China Power Project, told the South China Morning Post that the Ban Keun centre was China’s first acknowledged overseas military facility centred on air power, unlike its naval facilities in Djibouti and Cambodia.
Hart said the repeated use of the “joint training centre” model suggested the PLA was expanding its overseas footprint in stages. “This facility could start as a joint facility with Laos and grow into China steadily building a deeper presence over time,” he said. “What is visible now may just be a starting point.” He also said China had expanded the pier at its base in Djibouti years after it opened and had continued adding capabilities there, including communications and possibly intelligence collection. According to reports based on commercial satellite imagery, construction at Ban Keun began around October last year and had reached a substantial scale by September this year. The longest runway is about 2,000 metres. Hart said the speed of development suggested the PLA’s footprint elsewhere could also grow quickly “if the conditions are right”.
Ban Keun Airport is about 45 km north of the Laotian capital, Vientiane, in northwestern Vientiane province. The airfield is in the heart of the Indochina peninsula and had earlier served as a tactical support site in the US network of airstrips in Laos during the Laotian Civil War and the Vietnam War era before ceasing active operations after the conflicts. Hart said signs of a more substantial PLA presence would include how long Chinese aircraft or personnel stayed there, whether Beijing secured exclusive access to parts of the facility, and the balance between Chinese and Laotian forces at the site.
China’s earlier overseas defence projects have drawn concern from the US and its allies. The PLA opened its first overseas military outpost, a naval logistics base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, in 2017 to support anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden and other operations in East Africa and West Asia. Last year, Beijing opened the China-Cambodia Joint Training and Support Centre at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodia has denied any permanent stationing of Chinese forces there and has said the base remains open to visits from all countries. Days later, two Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force vessels became the first foreign naval ships to visit the base.
Timothy Heath, head of defence research firm Perceptum, said the Laos base was in a strategic location. “Southeast Asia will likely play a leading role in the future of Asia’s economy, so the base is a way for China to involve itself more deeply and possibly position military forces in an area of strategic value,” he said. He added that the Laos facility and the Ream base in Cambodia could be important for China’s regional interests. “Both bases are near the South China Sea, which is the route for the Maritime Silk Road, a major seaway for China’s economy,” he told the Post.
The Lao People’s Liberation Army Air Force has fewer than 40 aircraft, mainly transport helicopters and light jet trainers, and no modern fighter jets in service. Pilot training in Laos has long relied heavily on foreign partners, especially China and Russia. Laos and China have had close ties for decades, with cooperation increasing in recent years. The China-Laos Railway, a major Belt and Road project, opened in 2021 and has improved connectivity between the two countries, adding to their wider links as China expands its presence in the region.
