Gu Xinying (front row, fifth from left), director of the New York Northeastern Chinese Association, holds a press conference on Friday with representatives from co-host organizations to announce a ceremony marking the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II and victory of Chinese people’s resistance against Japanese Invasion. The ceremony will held on Aug 15 - the day Japan surrendered to the Allies - at the Sheraton LaGuardia Hotel in Flushing, Queens. HEZI JIANG /China Daily

A ceremony marking the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II and the victory of Chinese people’s resistance against the Japanese Invasion will be held on Aug 15 — the day Japan surrendered to the Allies — in New York City.

The ceremony to be held at the Sheraton LaGuardia Hotel in Flushing, Queens, is sponsored by the New York Northeastern Chinese Association, which announced the event on Saturday, and will be co-hosted by 13 New York China-connected organizations. The 13 organizations have donated money and will send volunteers to the event in Flushing, now the fastest growing Chinatown in the city.

With the theme Talking History as Mirror and Cherishing Peace, the commemoration will show nearly 100 photos illustrating what happened in Northeastern China from the 1931 Mukden Incident, which was the beginning of Japan’s invasion of China, to the celebration of victory in 1945.

“Northeastern China was the first to face Japan’s aggression. Our New York Northeastern Chinese Association, therefore, has the mission to initiate this commemoration,” said Gu Xinying, director of the association. “These photos provided by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Jilin Provincial Committee will be shown to the public for the first time.”

To some, the commemoration ceremony next month in New York is especially important because of current tension between China and Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to give a speech next week on the anniversary.

“Japanese militarism can be revived as the government is trying to pass new security bills,” said James Ruan, chairman of the Council of Chinese American Associations, New York, one of the event's co-hosts. “As overseas Chinese we must be prepared, and never forget national humiliation.”

Pu Yong, vice president of Henan Chinese Association USA, another co-host, said that the commemoration is important for promoting peace.

“It’s not just about celebrating our victory, but more of a chance to show the world that Chinese wants peace as much as they do. We hope World War II was the last war.”

The War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out in 1937 and ended on Aug 15, 1945, with Japan's unconditional surrender, which also effectively ended World War II.

On Sept 9, 1945, the commander-in-chief of Japan's China Expeditionary Army, Yasuji Okamura, signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender in Nanjing.

The historic ceremony marked an end to eight years of Chinese forces fighting the Japanese invaders. The aggressors killed more than 300,000 Chinese during the Nanjing Massacre alone.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com