Xu Yongchang signed Japan’s Instrument of Surrender for China on September 2, 1945.
Xu, also known in older English sources as Hsu Yung-chang, represented the Republic of China at the surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. He signed after General Douglas MacArthur and U.S. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, representing the United States.
China was one of the Allied powers named in the surrender ceremony. Xu’s signature appeared on behalf of China alongside those of representatives for the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
Xu was a senior National Revolutionary Army officer and later held important government and military posts. He should not be confused with Japan’s representatives Mamoru Shigemitsu and Yoshijiro Umezu, who signed for the Japanese government and Imperial General Headquarters. The ceremony ended at 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time.