As Japan’s ‘Asian Nato’ push to counter China hits a brick wall, will a rebrand revive it?

As a self-described “military geek”, the new Japanese leader is expected to bolster Japan’s defence capabilities and introduce innovative security strategies.

“Ishiba will invest more in minilateral partnerships to provide focused security and other forms of cooperation,” said Stephen Nagy, an international-relations professor at Tokyo’s International Christian University.

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Japan’s ruling LDP picks Shigeru Ishiba as successor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

He suggested revamping Japan’s alliance with the US by establishing an “Asian Nato” in a paper submitted to the Hudson Institute last month – even proposing stationing Japanese troops on American soil to deter Chinese military aggression.