Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“China is increasingly drawing Laos into its orbit through two main strategies: a railway freight line and a joint military air facility. Not going unnoticed among neighboring nations—especially Laos’s close ally Vietnam—the move feeds directly into China’s regional strategy of making mainland Southeast Asia a secure southern flank through close economic ties. In some ways, this is a continuation of a long tradition in the way China views the region. In the imperial era, China treated many of its neighbors as, essentially, vassals.” (11/10/26)