Ishin no To (Japan Innovation Party), the second largest opposition party, adopted counterproposals to the Abe administration's security bills on Thursday, attaching tougher conditions for the Self-Defense Forces to use force in certain contingency scenarios.
One of the pillars of Ishin's bills is to ban exercising the right to collective self-defense for economic reasons alone — such as protecting crude oil shipments to Japan. It stipulates that the use of force would be allowed only when there is clear danger of Japan coming under "armed attack."
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested the bills his administration has proposed may allow Japan to exercise the right if the country is facing an economic crisis, such as a disruption to the country's oil imports.