LAOS - Joint Airfield with China

The airport jointly run with Laos is China’s first military facility abroad focused on air power and the latest project in Beijing’s efforts to project force beyond its borders, which includes a base in Djibouti, the Ream naval facility in Cambodia, the rapid militarization and expansion of islands in the South China Sea and a growing carrier fleet.

But the airport, with a potential for expansion, is certain to be a concern for neighboring Vietnam, which has competing territorial claims with Beijing in the South China Sea, said Poling, who suggested the Laos project was a “target of opportunity” for China, like the Ream naval base in Cambodia, which was renovated with Chinese money and now hosts a joint China-Cambodia training center.

On a broader level, the airfield could complicate U.S. strategy for the defense of Taiwan, should China ever decide to take the democratically self-governed island by force, which President Xi Jinping has not ruled out for the territory that China claims as its own, said Evan Laksmana, a Singapore-based defense analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

-www.nbcnews.com, 15 October 2026

Commentary: China is the largest manufacturing country in the world by a long shot. Thus, it seems but natural that they are expanding their influence; in this case, through their presence in neighboring countries.

Chinese entities have acquired equity or operational stakes in 145 port projects globally.

A statement from Bloomberg reads: “‘We often say that to get rich, we must first build roads,’ said Chinese President Xi Jinping addressing workers at Tieshan port on the South China Sea during a 2017 visit. ‘But in coastal areas, to get rich, we must first build ports.’”

China’s strategy becomes plainer as the years go by: to copy the United States of America.

But there is more to it, because operating deep-water ports or airfields could easily become chokepoints for the world of commerce.

This became clear and somewhat painful when Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz.

Another potential choke point is between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (Bab al-Mandab Strait).

One word repeatedly pops up: merchandise. Statistics tell us that some 80% of the world’s merchandise is moved by sea.

It seems that wherever we look, there is potential trouble. Yet above and beyond anything that happens on planet earth, the words in Psalm 77:16-19 declare: “The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.”

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