Trump push for Hormuz patrol puts Abe in a fix

Bloomberg

US calls for Japan’s help protecting shipping from Iranian attacks have put Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a bind between angering his country’s military ally and upsetting
voters suspicious of overseas deployments.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo confirmed that the US has asked Japan to join naval patrols in the Strait of Hormuz, a subject of much speculation in Tokyo since President Donald Trump accused the country in a tweet last month of being a security freeloader.
Despite weeks of questions, Abe’s government has sought to avoid any commitments that could prompt fresh criticism that he’s undermining Japan’s pacifist constitution.
“Abe is frightened of public opinion on security issues
and is frightened of angering Trump” said Garren Mulloy, professor of international relations at Daito Bunka University in Saitama, Japan.
“This is primarily about Abe and cabinet indecision.”
The stakes are high for Abe’s government, which has described safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as a “matter of life and death in terms of energy security.”
Japan gets 80 percent of its crude imports from the Middle East, much of it through the choke point at the focus of recent tanker attacks and bickering between Washington and Tehran about US efforts to renegotiate an international nuclear accord with Iran.