While the Empire of Japan was an Allied country at the time, on 20 November 1917, a battery at Fremantle Harbour fired a shell as the Japanese cruiser "Yahagi". The shell fell within of "Yahagi". Clare, as commander of the Western Australian Naval District attempted to explain the incident, but was the situation became politicised for several reasons. While Japanese forces had earlier captured the German colony of Tsingtao, and the Imperial Japanese Navy had frequently escorted Australian and other Allied vessels in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean theatres, as well as performing patrol duties, some Allied governments, including that of Australia, maintained an official ban on immigration by people of non-European descent, under racially discriminatory laws; in theory, all Japanese citizens were affected by these laws. In addition, Allied governments had blocked Japanese offers to join front-line combat operations in other parts of the world. Furthermore, politicians and the press in Allied countries down-played the Japanese contribution. Admiral Kazuyoshi Yamaji, who had ejected Clare's explanation, eventually received a full apology.