New China-Laos training centre could be Chinese military base - Bangkok Post

A satellite image shows construction on an airport in Ban Keun, where China's Ministry of National Defence says it has opened a joint military support and training centre in Vientiane, Laos, on Sept 2, 2026. (Photo via Kyodo) BEIJING — A China-Laos centre that opened last week near Vientiane to train Laotian air force pilots has sparked speculation among observers that it could be used as an overseas Chinese military base.

Beijing said the facility, launched on Sept 29 at Ban Keun Airport about 50 kilometres north of the Laotian capital, is "not directed against any third party" and "contributes to enhancing practical military cooperation as well as promoting regional peace and stability."

Collin Koh, a security scholar at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sept 29 that the new centre in Laos is a "military logistics base" and similar to a Chinese military facility in Djibouti in East Africa.

"It may not be wrong to conclude this is the first full-fledged PLA overseas base in Southeast Asia," Koh said, referring to the Chinese military's official name, the People's Liberation Army.

Satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters has shown that construction work at the Laotian airport began in late 2025 and that the airfield, carved out from a patch of farmland, is now equipped with a large paved runway, a parallel taxiway, apron and a number of new buildings.

Ban Keun Airport was built by the US military during the Vietnam War but is believed to have remained unused until China apparently carried out a major renovation, according to diplomatic sources.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with his Laotian counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith in Beijing in June, the Chinese leader proposed deeper law enforcement and security cooperation through the establishment of a "three-plus-three" strategic dialogue mechanism involving diplomacy, defense and public security.

Laos, a one-party communist state with a population of some 7.87 million, has been bolstering ties with neighbouring China through initiatives including the Belt and Road infrastructure programme. A railway connecting the two countries also opened in 2021.

In April last year, China also opened a joint training centre with Cambodia, helping an expansion project at the country's Ream Naval Base with direct access to the Gulf of Thailand. Chinese navy vessels continue to visit the base. In addition, China also operates a logistics base in Djibouti.

Cambodia has denied that Chinese troops ⁠are stationed at Ream, but the United States has raised concerns about an expanded Chinese presence there.

In its statement, China’s Ministry ⁠of National Defence said the ​operations in Laos are “not directed against any third party and aim to help further deepen practical cooperation between the two militaries and ‌contribute to maintaining ⁠peace and stability in ​the region”.

Neither government has released details on the personnel or military hardware to be based at the facility.