China opens joint air force centre in Laos

China has launched a joint air force support and training centre and an aviation academy in Laos, marking an expansion of its limited overseas military presence. China’s Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that the China-Laos Joint Support and Training Centre and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy were now operating at Ban Keun Airport in Vientiane province. The facilities are intended to support training for the Laotian Air Force.

The ministry said the institutions would be jointly maintained and operated by China and Laos. It did not disclose how many personnel or what equipment would be based at the airport. The ministry described the facilities as the result of mutual respect and equal consultation.

It said the arrangements complied with the domestic laws of both countries, international law and international practice, and were not directed at a third party. The airport is about 45 kilometres north of the Lao capital, Vientiane. The airfield previously served as a tactical support site in the United States network of airstrips in Laos during the Laotian Civil War and the Vietnam war era.

It stopped active operations after those conflicts. Reports based on commercial satellite imagery indicated that construction began around October of the previous year and had reached a substantial scale by September. The longest runway is approximately 2,000 metres.

China has previously established an overseas naval logistics base in Djibouti and opened a joint training and support centre at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base. Those projects have drawn concern from Washington and its allies, while Cambodia has denied that Chinese forces are permanently stationed at Ream. Laos operates fewer than 40 aircraft, mainly transport helicopters and light jet trainers, and has no modern fighter jets in service, according to the source material.

Its pilot training has long relied on foreign partners, including China and Russia.