I never noticed the Asian influence before now, but I think Ax always was there to make the books easier to relate to for non-Americans. As I've mentioned before, the whole "it could even be YOUR home town" bit was less of an impact to those outside of the U.S., since the books were clearly set there. So, Ax being from another PLANET, helped non-Americans to relate a bit more.
Not that there's that much of a cultural difference between Canada and the U.S., but I'm sure you all know what I mean.