Laos base part of China’s regional ambitions: expert

The opening of a joint air support center in Laos is part of China’s decades-long power-projection efforts to extend its influence into the Indian Ocean, a Taiwanese defense expert said yesterday.

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday last week announced that the China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center at Ban Keun Airport in Vientiane Province and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy officially opened on Tuesday last week.

The jointly maintained and operated center is aimed at helping Laos bolster pilot training, Beijing said.

Photo: Screen grab from Google Maps

“It is not directed against any third party and contributes to enhancing practical military cooperation as well as promoting regional peace and stability,” the Chinese defense ministry said in a statement.

The project is part of China’s long-term strategy to extend its influence beyond its borders, said Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of Defense Strategy and Resources at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

Since the launch of its “Belt and Road Initiative,” Beijing has been laying the groundwork for overseas naval and air bases, primarily to secure shipping routes in the Indian Ocean and mitigate risks associated with the Strait of Malacca, Su said.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) already operates a military facility in Djibouti in East Africa, as well as a facility at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia.

With the base in Laos, the PLA is expected to extend its presence toward the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca, Su said.

The new facilities also reflect Beijing’s overarching strategy aimed at safeguarding China’s maritime transport routes and access to the sea, protected by naval and air power, so that in the event of a blockade of the Strait of Malacca, crude oil and natural gas could still be transported to China, he said.

Ban Keun Airport, about 45km northwest of Laos’ capital, Vientiane, has a roughly 2km-long paved runway that can accommodate fighter jets, Su.

However, China might seek to extend it to 3km to accommodate larger aircraft, such as bombers, transport aircraft and tanker aircraft, he added.

In the event of a conflict in the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait, US Air Force assets at Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean would likely need to fly from west to east across the Indochina Peninsula, potentially exposing them to Chinese interception, Su said.