ANALYSIS/Laos air base part of China's Indian Ocean ambitions: Expert

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) The recent opening of a joint air support center in Laos is part of China's decades-long power-projection efforts to extend its influence into the Indian Ocean, a Taiwanese defense expert said Sunday.

China's defense ministry announced on Sept. 30 that the China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center at Ban Keun Airport in Vientiane Province, Laos, and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy officially opened on Sept. 29.

According to Beijing, the jointly maintained and operated center is aimed at helping Laos strengthen pilot training.

"It is not directed against any third party and contributes to enhancing practical military cooperation as well as promoting regional peace and stability," China's defense ministry said in a statement.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), said the project is part of China's long-term strategy to extend its influence beyond its borders.

Since the launch of its "Belt and Road Initiative," China has been laying the groundwork for overseas naval and air bases, primarily to secure shipping routes in the Indian Ocean and mitigate risks associated with the Strait of Malacca, Su said.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) already operates a military facility in Djibouti in East Africa, as well as a naval facility at Ream in Cambodia.

With the base in Laos, the PLA is expected to extend its presence toward the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca, according to Su.

The new facilities also reflect Beijing's overarching strategy aimed at safeguarding China's maritime transport routes and access to the sea, protected by naval and air power, so that in the event of a blockade of the Strait of Malacca, crude oil and natural gas could still be transported to China, Su said.

Su, citing foreign media reports, said Ban Keun Airport is located 45 kilometers northwest of Laos' capital, Vientiane.

The airport's roughly 2,000-meter-long paved runway can accommodate fighter jets, but China may seek to extend it to 3,000 meters to accommodate larger aircraft, such as bombers, transport aircraft and tanker aircraft, Su said.

In the event of a conflict in the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait, U.S. Air Force assets based at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean would likely need to fly from west to east across the Indochina Peninsula, potentially exposing them to interception by China, Su said.