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Chinese military personnel train members of the Lao military on the operation of unmanned equipment during the "Peace Train-2026" China-Laos joint humanitarian medical rescue exercise held in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the 9th of last month. / Xinhua, Yonhap News

China has opened a military support and training center operated jointly with the Lao military at an airfield near the Lao capital of Vientiane. Following Cambodia's Ream Naval Base, this marks the establishment of an additional foothold for China to project military influence across Southeast Asia.

According to Reuters on the 1st (local time), the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced that the "China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center" and the "China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy" commenced operations on the 29th of last month at Ban Keun Airfield, located about 50 kilometers north of Vientiane, Laos. It added that the facility will be used to train air force pilots and "is not aimed at any third party."

The opening ceremony was attended by the Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, though details such as the scale of personnel, equipment deployed to the facility, and specific facility specifications were not disclosed.

Parts of the undisclosed scale of the facility were confirmed through satellite imagery. According to satellite photos analyzed by Reuters, construction began late last year and remained underway through early last month. A large paved runway, taxiways, and aprons were newly laid across land that had previously been farmland, along with several constructed buildings. While the U.S. utilized this area during the Indochina conflicts of the 1960s and 1970s, only an unpaved airstrip remained as of last year.

Rachel Vandenbrink, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), took note of the facility's designation. She observed that "the joint support and training center indicates that the PLA intends to maintain continuous access to a logistics foothold to support troops rotating through Laos," while also raising the possibility of stationing a small forward support unit.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that, unlike Ream Naval Base, the facility outwardly bears closer resemblance to China's base in Djibouti, assessing that "it might not be wrong to conclude that it is the PLA's first full-fledged overseas base in Southeast Asia."

Cambodia's Ream Naval Base and the Djibouti base, which Koh cited for comparison, are currently regarded as China's premier overseas military footholds.

While China operates a joint training and support center at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base facing the Gulf of Thailand, its official position remains that "no Chinese troops or warships are permanently stationed there." Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense previously estimated that roughly 400 marines are stationed at the Djibouti base, which has been in operation since 2017.

The Lao Air Force, the stated recipient of the pilot training cited by the Chinese defense ministry, operates on a modest scale. Under the one-party rule of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the country operates only a limited number of aircraft designed by China and Russia. A diplomat who requested anonymity explained that while Lao military personnel previously had to travel to Vietnam, Russia, or China to receive advanced training, a segment of personnel will now be able to train domestically.

Laos has maintained continuous military training exercises with China, including joint humanitarian response drills conducted last month. During Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith's visit to China in June, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed strategic dialogues, including in the defense sector.

The U.S. and neighboring countries are monitoring the situation closely. The U.S. Department of Defense did not include Laos on its list of 22 nations under consideration by China for establishing military facilities in its annual report last year.

Thailand, a U.S. treaty ally that borders Laos, maintains a measured stance. Surasant Kongsiri, spokesperson for Thailand's Ministry of Defence, stated that Thailand maintains close ties with both Laos and China and that granting base access remains Laos' sovereign decision. He added, however, that Thailand "will continue to monitor subsequent developments closely in terms of building mutual trust."

                                                                                                             Jeong Ri-na