Which Allied representative signed Japan’s surrender instrument for China in 1945?

Hsu Yung-chang signed Japan’s surrender instrument for China in 1945.

General Hsu Yung-chang, also rendered Xu Yongchang, signed for the Republic of China during the ceremony aboard USS Missouri. He signed at 9:13 a.m. on September 2, 1945, immediately after Chester Nimitz and before the British representative, Admiral Bruce Fraser.

China had fought Japan for years before the wider Pacific War began. The Second Sino-Japanese War started in 1937 and became part of the global conflict after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the expansion of the war across Asia. Chinese forces therefore held a central place among the Allied powers present at Japan’s surrender.

Hsu’s name is sometimes confused with General He Yingqin, who accepted Japan’s separate surrender in Nanjing on September 9, 1945. Those were different ceremonies. Hsu represented China at the Tokyo Bay signing, while He accepted the surrender of Japanese forces in the China theater.