China opens joint military facility in Laos

China and Laos have inaugurated a joint military facility at an airport north of the Laotian capital, both governments said, extending the Chinese military's reach in the region.

Beijing has long sought to increase its influence across Asia-Pacific, competing with Washington and its allies over key shipping routes and undersea resource exploration.

China has also extended its military presence, especially in the disputed South China Sea -- which it claims almost entirely -- by building up artificial islands and reefs, and militarising them with runways, ports and radar systems.

The opening of the Joint Flight Training and Support Centre at Ban Keun airfield, north of Vientiane, was marked on Tuesday by Laos's defence minister and a delegation from the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the state-run Laos Army news outlet said Tuesday.

The facility was aimed at supporting the "training and skills development of Laos Air Force pilots", it said.

China's defence ministry said the training centre and a joint aviation school officially opened on Tuesday and would be "maintained for normal operations by both sides".

"They do not target any third party, and are conducive to further deepening the two militaries' practical cooperation and maintaining regional peace and stability," the Chinese ministry said in a statement.

Neither government has released details on the personnel or military hardware to be based at the facility.

China opened its first overseas military base in 2017 in Djibouti, which has leveraged its strategic location in the Horn of Africa to become an international military and maritime hub.

The small country, situated near the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, also hosts military bases and contingents from France, Italy, Japan and the United States.

In recent years, China has also funded renovations at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base, located off its southern coast in the Gulf of Thailand.

Washington says the base -- which was originally built partly with US funds -- could give Beijing a strategic position near the South China Sea.

Cambodian officials have repeatedly denied the base is for use by any single foreign power.

burs-sco/ami