On September 9, 1945, Japan and the KMT sign the Act of Surrender, formally ending the second Sino-Japanese war. The KMT, under General Order No. 1 from U.S. general Douglas MacArthur, is assigned responsibility for demobilizing Japanese forces in China, Indochina, and Taiwan. The United States stipulates that Japan shall only surrender to the KMT, and airlifts KMT forces to, inter alia, Shanghai, Qingdao, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Tianjin in order to accept Japan's surrender.