Nato statutes ‘clearly limit the scope to North Atlantic’, official says, with reports that president Macron personally objects to the idea

France is unenthusiastic about a proposal for Nato to open a liaison office in Japan, an official has said, days after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said the move would be a “big mistake”.

There have been suggestions, alluded to most recently by the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, that the organisation would open an office in Tokyo – its first in Asia – in response to the growing challenge posed by China and Russia.