It might seem far-fetched to talk about the remote hills of southeastern Laos as a theatre for great power politics.
It feels like a particularly unfitting description for the district of Dak Cheung, one of the most remote corners of one of Asia’s poorest countries, a place where many of the houses are still simple wooden structures and where 15% of people cannot read or write.
But if the standoff between the US and China is, at least in part, about the domination of new markets and technology, then that is exactly what it is.
In fact, places like this might be shifting not just the world’s climate, but perhaps its politics too.
Dak Cheung is the site of the Monsoon Wind Power Project, the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia. Some 133 turbines tower across an area about twice the size of the Isle of Wight.
It is a remarkable spectacle; a feat of engineering and logistics on what they call “complex terrain” with an ambitious international focus; all the energy generated is carried over 70km (43 miles) by cable to neighbouring Vietnam.
“Lots of people said it wouldn’t be possible,” says Narut Boakajorn, the site’s general manager who heads up the Thai-led consortium that runs the plant.
“We’ll be able to deliver power to around a million households annually.”
But everyone here also acknowledges that this place might not have been possible without involvement from China.
It was built by a state-owned Chinese company, made with Chinese technology; a combination that brought unbeatably low cost, advanced tech and an ultra-fast build.
“It makes the project viable,” says Mr Boakajorn.
“Otherwise we cannot get project financing and the project would not have been feasible.”
The project would not have been possible without Chinese investment, says Narut Boakajorn
China’s global reach
It is a good example of the sheer global reach Chinese green technology now has.
What started as a largely domestic project has ballooned into a domination of international markets.
China now makes more than 60% of the world’s mass-manufactured green technologies, according to the International Energy Agency, including over 80% of the world’s solar panels and more than 75% of its electric vehicles.
Remarkably, Chinese clean energy exports in 2024 alone are expected to cut global carbon emissions by 1%, according to analysis undertaken for Carbon Brief.
The site’s energy is carried from Laos to Vietnam
It’s unlikely any of this was undertaken for altruistic reasons. China has never tried to position itself as a climate leader and while it is building wind farms, it is also building coal-fired power plants at a remarkable rate; more last year than at any other time in the last decade.
But given most experts now agree renewable energy facilities are likely to be the future, early aggressive investment in renewables looks to have been a pretty good bet.
Indeed, in just the first half of this year China’s green tech exports were worth over 50% more than what the US exported in oil and gas.
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The question is what other influence and sway it will afford China in the long run and how might that be used.
It’s worth noting that the majority of the growth in China’s green technology exports in recent years has been to developing countries.
And there are numerous global examples of large Chinese infrastructure projects saddling the smaller host country in unmanageable amounts of debt.
Laos, in response to rising debt, recently signed a deal ceding control of the majority of its power grid to a state-owned Chinese company.
The Monsoon Wind Power Plant was privately financed and has not brought any of these debt issues to Laos.
Mr Boakajorn is at pains to stress the high social and environmental standards the project adhered to, standards he says may not have been followed if the Chinese contractor had acted alone.
The hills around Dak Cheung were relentlessly targeted by the US during the Vietnam war – the symbolism of China building where America once bombed is not lost on the people of Laos.
Many homes in Dak Cheung are still simple wooden structures
Short-term influence is a hard thing to measure, while longer-term stakes in the world’s energy future are a hard thing to predict.
But for now at least, it feels that China has the upper hand in both.
China dominates renewables – and this project shows why
