China’s latest expansion of its overseas military footprint was carved from a patch of farmland in Laos over the past year, satellite imagery showed, as analysts said the new support center could deepen Beijing’s presence in Southeast Asia.
The China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy are now operational at an airport in Ban Keun, some 50 kilometers north of the Lao capital Vientiane, Beijing’s Ministry of National Defense said on Tuesday.
“The fact that this is a joint support and training center suggests (China’s People’s Liberation Army) could be seeking persistent access to a logistics hub that can support forces rotating through Laos, perhaps with a small forward support element,” said Rachel Vandenbrink, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
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