As China decries US plans for an Asian Nato, is it all a ‘political gimmick’?

Analyst Collin Koh thinks the idea of a Nato-like Asian security alliance is a propaganda ploy.

“It’s nothing more than a Chinese political gimmick to try to shape the public narrative about the network of US alliances and partnerships and its role in maintaining regional peace and stability,” said Koh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore.

Ray Powell, a former US Air Force colonel and director of SeaLight – a project based in Stanford University that aims to track maritime “grey zone” activities – called China’s Nato accusation “hyperbolic”.

Powell likened American strategic ties with the Asia-Pacific to a wheel, with the US serving as the hub and the spokes leading out to various allies.

Beijing’s contention is that the set-up will eventually morph into a super alliance “to maintain the US-led hegemony” in the region.

US Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka has said he would “sleep better at night” if there were an Asian Nato, but told The Sydney Morning Herald in report published on MondayJune 10 “that’s not happening”.

15:04

Why is the Philippines aligning itself with the US after years of close China ties under Duterte

Powell said that Asian countries with ties to the US were now forming their own relationships “out of necessity” amid China’s aggression in the region, but such a network was a long way from turning into a Nato analogue.

An Asian Nato would require of its members “high levels of interoperability and even commonality, which involves not just common tactics, techniques and procedures but even joint defence procurement”, Koh said.

Yet countries such as Japan and South Korea were not allied with each other despite being treaty