The day Japan surrendered also brought China victory in its lengthy war of resistance against Japanese aggression. To commemorate the special day, veterans, scholars and students from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have been gathering to share their thoughts and memories on the unforgettable war. CGTN's Wang Mengzhen has this report from Central China's Hubei province.

A warm handshake between two former generals from across the Taiwan Strait.

Hau Pei-tsun, a retired military commander of the Kuomintang Party, is just one year shy of his one-hundredth birthday. Eighty years ago, right here in the Hubei provincial capital, Wuhan, Hao graduated from the military academy and joined the fight against Japanese aggression.

HAU PEI-TSUN FORMER MILITARY COMMANDER, KUOMINTANG PARTY "Young people should know the history of the war and how China has risen to be a great power. Without the victory in the resistance war against Japanese aggression, there wouldn't be the China of today. Cooperation between the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang Party played a very important role in winning the war. We need to acknowledge what happened on the battlefields, both on the center and back stages."

To quell the full-fledged Japanese invasion, a Chinese United Front was established between the country's two main parties in 1937, the CPC and the KMT. For years both sides disputed how much the other contributed to the effort to defeat Japan aggressor. But General Fang Zuqi says they're beginning to see eye-to-eye on the matter.

FANG ZUQI FORMER GENERAL, CHINESE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY "Every time we meet, we are just like a family. In the past, we did research on each other and had no direct contact. But now, as we communicate more, the estrangement has disappeared." 

What makes this year so different is the presence of about 140 young students from both sides.

YU YINGNAN, STUDENT WUHAN UNIVERSITY "By studying the reports from experts and scholars, I have learned a lot of new ideas and opinions that we never saw in our textbooks."

LO TSU-HAO, STUDENT TAIPEI MUNICIPAL JIANGUO HIGH SCHOOL "Because we have different opinions, I think when different opinions are shared, we can create some new thoughts."

Wuhan was chosen to host the event as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Wuhan -- one of the most significant and bloody clashes in the war.

WANG MENGZHEN WUHAN "Behind me is the Zhongshan warship, which was destroyed in the battle of Wuhan. It has now been restored and placed in a special museum, so it can forever serve as a reminder of the war of resistance against the Japanese 80 years ago."

For veterans fighting the war, memories are still fresh. For the younger generations each side of the Strait, sharing their understandings of history could be the way forward in sharing their future. Wang Mengzhen, CGTN, Wuhan, Hubei Province.