China’s Military Expansion in Southeast Asia Masks a More Complicated Reality

AI Summary

China has announced a joint support and training center at an airport in Ban Keun, Laos, adding to its expanding overseas security infrastructure. The facility, described by Beijing as not aimed at a third party, is its first publicly acknowledged overseas military site centered on airpower; the article also notes facilities in Djibouti and Cambodia.

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 The post China’s Military Expansion in Southeast Asia Masks a More Complicated Reality appeared first on War on the Rocks.