ABSTRACT
Ineffective political control, corruption, and internal discord in the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) all contribute to weakness within the Lao People's Democratic Republic's (Lao PDR) political system. Important sources of economic development and growth for Lao PDR, Chinese overseas development aid (ODA), its state-backed loans, and its bilateral trade with Lao PDR also result in Chinese power over the country's structure of finance. China has demonstrates structural power over Lao PDR's security relations with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and, more importantly, with Vietnam. China's contribution to structural violence within Lao PDR's environment extends to structural violence within Lao PDR's society. China influences knowledge formation in Lao PDR through its formalised effort to expand Chinese language, culture, and news, which is a subsidiary component of state-to-state relations meant to support further economic cooperation.
