China opens training center with Laos, marking third overseas military base

SINGAPORE — China has announced the opening of a new airbase in Laos, described as a joint training center but marking its third overseas military base, and the second in Southeast Asia.

China’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on social media that the China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center at Ban Keun Airport in Laos and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy started operations today.

“The establishment and operation of the two institutions reflect mutual respect and equal consultation between China and Laos, aligning with domestic laws of both countries, as well as international law and common practices,” the MND said the announcement.

The new post, the MND said, is “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.”

The People’s Liberation Army currently operates a military facility at Djibouti in East Africa that opened in 2017, as well as a naval facility at Ream in Cambodia.

The MND added that the new facility, located at Ban Keun some 25 miles (40 kilometres) north of the Laotian capital Vientiane, would be jointly operated and maintained by both countries and used to train Laotian pilots.

A video posted by the MND said that the opening ceremony was attended by Laotian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Khamlieng Outhakayson.

Based on satellite photos on Google Earth, the new airbase appears to have been built partially over the location of an airfield previously known as Lima Site 44, one of a network of airfields and other outposts built in Laos by the US military and Central Intelligence Agency during the Vietnam War, according to Rice, Refugees and Rooftops, a 15-volume book by former Air America helicopter pilot Harry Richard Casterlin.

The Google Earth photos showed the runway in the early stages of construction in January, however lower-resolution satellite photos of the base from imagery firm Sentinel Hub taken on September 22 showed an approximately 2,000 meter (6,560-foot) runway has been built, with an aircraft parking apron and five hangars at the north end of the base.