China opens first air base abroad at Ban Keun in Laos

China has inaugurated its first aviation facility located beyond its borders — a joint training and support centre at Ban Keun airfield in Laos — a step analysts say signals a deliberate expansion of Beijing’s military reach.

The two communist governments described the site north of Vientiane as intended exclusively for training pilots of the Lao air force. China’s Ministry of National Defense added that the location will be used for regular operational requirements of both sides and is not aimed at any third country.

Regional implications and analysts’ warnings

Security experts note the development comes as Beijing seeks to deepen influence across the Indo-Pacific, competing with Washington and its partners for maritime routes and undersea resources. Under President Xi Jinping, China has accelerated military modernization and increased pressure on Taiwan.

Joshua Kurlantzick, a Southeast Asia expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, called the Laos facility “the first air base China has outside its territory” and said Beijing is likely to establish additional similar sites while it tests how to operate an overseas airbase. Researcher Colin Koh added that, as China’s largest creditor to Laos, Beijing is using defence diplomacy to broaden its footprint and that training local pilots will inevitably involve sending Chinese military hardware.

China’s overseas military footprint remains small compared with the United States, which maintains several hundred bases worldwide. SIPRI data show China spends roughly around one third of the US military budget. Beijing opened its first overseas base in 2017 in Djibouti, near the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden; that site was later expanded with a signals intelligence centre, prompting concern from France and the US.

Beijing has also funded upgrades to Cambodia’s Ream naval base and last year opened a joint logistics and training centre with Cambodian authorities — a position Washington warned gives China a strategic posture near the South China Sea. Neither government has disclosed details about equipment or personnel numbers at the Laos facility. The situation is being watched closely by the United States and regional neighbours such as Vietnam and Thailand. The Pentagon estimated last year that China had considered opening military facilities in about twenty countries, though Laos was not mentioned at the time.

Photo: Maksar)