China is apparently building its first foreign air base in Laos

China opened a military base in Laos in Southeast Asia at the end of September. An official statement speaks of a "training center" at Ban Keun military airport, the "Sino-Lao Friendship Aviation Academy." According to observers, what sounds friendly could actually be a move by China to expand its military presence in Southeast Asia in order to gain more influence in the region.

The base in Laos is the "first air base that China maintains abroad," said Joshua Kurlantzick, Southeast Asia expert at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, to the AFP news agency.

The expert assumes that additional Chinese bases could be built in the region in the future. China is testing how to operate an air base outside its borders. China will "not just build a base in Laos and leave it at that," said Kurlantzick.

Fighter planes spotted on satellite images

Meanwhile, security researcher Collin Koh explained, according to AFP, that China is trying to demonstrate "that it is capable of expanding its defense diplomacy," at least with the help of cooperative countries. The training of pilots creates a Chinese military presence in Laos, because Chinese aircraft have to be stationed at the base.

According to a report by the Reuters news agency, this is now the case. Light combat aircraft and military vehicles have arrived at the Chinese-Laotian training facility, Reuters reports, citing satellite images.

The images, taken by commercial provider Vantor, show eight K-8 light attack aircraft and more than two dozen support vehicles on a runway still under construction, according to security analysts. The images were taken on September 30, the day after the Chinese Defense Ministry announced it had built the facility in Ban Keun, outside the capital Vientiane. They also show extensive construction work around the runway.

Why did China choose the Ban Keun location? Rachel Vandenbrink, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said China probably has no acute operational need for this. Perhaps the opportunity for construction simply arose and China took advantage of it. "Laos definitely has a certain geostrategic value as an easily accessible base on the Southeast Asian mainland, as it shares a border with China and has infrastructure connections, including a railway connection," says expert Vandenbrink.

China itself expressed reluctance about the base on the day it opened. The aviation academy is based on mutual respect between China and Laos, says China: "It is not directed against third parties and contributes to further strengthening practical cooperation between the two armed forces and maintaining regional peace and stability."