This old CIA airfield is now a Chinese base

China’s military has opened a new outpost on a site in northwestern Laos which was once a Vietnam-era CIA airfield.

The base, about 40 miles north of the capital Vientiane and just 25 miles from the nearest border with Thailand, comprises the China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center at Ban Keun Airport, and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy. It began operations on September 29, according to an announcement from China’s Defense Ministry.

Photos obtained by CNN from satellite imagery and intelligence platform Vantor show a 6,500-foot-long (2,000-meter-long) runway, taxiway and parking apron for 22 aircraft have been completed at the base since December.

The facilities are “designed to help Laos strengthen the training and development of its air force pilots and will be jointly maintained by both sides,” the Defense Ministry statement said.

Eight aircraft – possibly Hongdu JL-8 jets, a two-seat training and light-attack aircraft – are visible in the satellite photos.

The facilities are “not directed against any third party and are conducive to further strengthening practical cooperation between the two militaries and maintaining regional peace and stability,” the ministry said.

To date, China has only one official overseas base, an installation in Djibouti , northeast Africa, that opened in 2017.

It also funded a major expansion of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, which it operates jointly with the Cambodian military.

A new pier there, large enough to handle the PLA Navy’s aircraft carriers, has raised concerns about Beijing’s intentions in the region . But Cambodia’s government maintains Ream is open to others, including the US Navy, which had a littoral combat ship call there in January.

The Ban Keun base in Laos used to be used by the CIA-operated Air America during the Vietnam War, as a logistics and support hub for secret operations in the region.

But China’s move there – while symbolic – doesn’t signal any major shift in the US-China power balance, analysts said.

Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said Thursday it’s hard to see any threat to US forces in the region from the base.

“This runway is not a dagger pointed at the heart of anything,” Thompson said.

Once home to the CIA, this tiny Southeast Asia runway was considered ‘the most secret place on Earth’

“I struggle to think of a scenario where (China would) want to generate aircraft sorties from there,” he said, noting its location near Thailand, a major non-NATO ally of the US.

Rachel Vandenbrink, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told Reuters that China’s selection of Ban Keun “is likely more about a target of opportunity than filling an obvious operational need.”

“Laos does have some geostrategic value as an accessible foothold in mainland Southeast Asia, given its shared border with China and infrastructure links, including (its) railway,” Vandenbrink told the news agency.

CNN’s Isaac Yee contributed to this report.

中国军方在老挝西北部一处曾是越战时期中央情报局机场的地点开设了一个新的前哨基地。

该基地位于首都万象以北约40英里，距离最近的泰国边境仅25英里，包括位于班根机场的中老联合支援训练中心和中老友好航空学院。据中国国防部宣布，该基地于9月29日正式投入使用。

CNN 从卫星图像和情报平台 Vantor 获取的照片显示，自去年 12 月以来，该基地已建成一条 6500 英尺长（2000 米长）的跑道、滑行道和可容纳 22 架飞机的停机坪。

国防部声明称，这些设施“旨在帮助老挝加强空军飞行员的训练和发展，并将由双方共同维护”。

卫星照片中可以看到八架飞机——可能是洪都JL-8喷气式飞机，一种双座教练机和轻型攻击机。

该部表示，这些设施“不针对任何第三方，有利于进一步加强两军务实合作，维护地区和平稳定”。

迄今为止，中国只有一个官方海外基地，即位于非洲东北部吉布提的基地，该基地于 2017 年启用。

它还资助了柬埔寨位于泰国湾的云壤海军基地的大规模扩建，该基地由它与柬埔寨军方共同运营。

当地新建的码头规模足以容纳解放军海军的航空母舰，这引发了人们对北京在该地区意图的担忧。但柬埔寨政府坚称，里姆港对其他国家开放，包括美国海军。今年1月，美国海军的一艘濒海战斗舰就曾到访过里姆港。

在越南战争期间，老挝的班肯基地曾被美国中央情报局运营的“美国空军”用作该地区秘密行动的后勤和支援中心。

分析人士表示，中国此举虽然具有象征意义，但并不预示着美中力量平衡发生重大变化。

新加坡拉惹勒南国际研究院高级研究员德鲁·汤普森周四表示，很难看出该基地会对该地区的美国军队构成任何威胁。

汤普森说：“这条跑道并不是一把直指任何事物核心的匕首。”

这条位于东南亚的小型跑道曾是美国中央情报局的所在地，被认为是“地球上最秘密的地方”。

“我很难想象（中国）会想从那里进行飞机出动，”他说道，并指出该地靠近泰国，而泰国是美国的主要非北约盟友。

澳大利亚战略政策研究所高级分析师雷切尔·范登布林克告诉路透社，中国选择潘根“很可能是出于机会主义目的，而不是为了满足明显的作战需要”。

范登布林克告诉新闻机构：“老挝与中国接壤，拥有包括铁路在内的基础设施联系，因此作为东南亚大陆的一个便捷立足点，它具有一定的地缘战略价值。”

CNN的艾萨克·伊对本报道亦有贡献。