Japan and Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe: Responding to a question from an opposition lawmaker during a Feb. 16 Lower House plenary session, Abe said Japan would be permitted to mobilize SDF personnel for minesweeping missions under collective self-defense in situations that are likely to have "vital implications" on the daily lives of Japanese, according to Asahi Shimbun. Having made these points, Abe argued that mines in the strait "certainly could be a situation where Japan is at risk of serious or grave damage, just like when the country comes under direct armed attack." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Self-Defense Forces can be deployed to carry out minesweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz even though a cease-fire has yet to be reached in the area. In making his case for the SDF deployment, Abe pointed out that 80 percent of crude oil imported by Japan passes through the strait. He also said, "If mines were placed in the Strait of Hormuz, it could paralyze the world economy more extensively than the oil crisis in the 1970s and plunge Japan into an energy crisis." (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.