China’s Military Expansion in Southeast Asia Masks a More Complicated Reality– warontherocks.com

The Chinese Ministry of Defense’s announcement of a “joint support and training center” at an airport in Ban Keun, Laos, on Sept. 29 drew attention to the People’s Liberation Army’s growing footprint in Southeast Asia. Although China does not call it a “base” and said it’s “not targeted at any third party,” it is China’s first publicly acknowledged overseas military facility centered on airpower. Ban Keun joins Djibouti and Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base as nodes in a burgeoning network of overseas Chinese security infrastructure.

Concern is understandable. While smaller than China’s base in Djibouti, satellite imagery reveals eight light attack aircraft and support vehicles on a 2,000-meter runway that is currently under construction. Although insufficient to support long-range bombers, the facility likely benefits China’s logistics and intelligence capabilities, diversifies Southeast Asian base access beyond Cambodia, and ties Laos into its arms sales network. The joint center could eventually enhance the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s power projection across mainland Southeast Asia, potentially affecting U.S. forces operating in the eastern Indian Ocean. For Vietnam, this development deepens its sense of siege.

The reflex among many policymakers in Washington after each rumored or announced Chinese military facility overseas is to interpret it through the lens of U.S.-Chinese competition. In Cambodia’s case with Ream, Washington imposed sanctions as punishment. Yet, this reflex misunderstands the nuanced interests driving regional partners to work with China — and how to counter it.