Japanese expansion competes with anti-piracy patrols

Bombing, amphibious assaults, and civilian atrocities made Japanese operations a central China Station concern. John Rabe's efforts to protect civilians at Nanjing illustrate the extreme violence. Royal Navy ships also had to check British systems and interests at Shanghai while observing Japanese operations ashore and at sea. Ships assigned to those duties could not simultaneously patrol pirate waters. Commanders at the end of a long logistics chain also had to conserve ammunition, identify targets correctly, and position scarce ships where sound information was available. Selective enforcement was therefore an operational necessity as well as a legal choice.