Emphasising peace is crucial as Hong Kong marks 80 years since the country's victory against Japanese forces and in the anti-fascist war, a historian has stressed.

"Both the victory of the Chinese anti-Japanese war, and also the victory of the anti-fascist war, are equally important in Hong Kong, because we're talking about peace for the whole world," Lingnan University historian Lau Chi-pang told RTHK.

"We can demonstrate that when we look back at the history of Hong Kong's victory over Japanese aggression in 1945."

In December 1941, Hong Kong surrendered to invading Japanese forces, leading to Japan's occupation that lasted three years and eight months.

The same period saw the emergence of guerrilla fighters known as the Dongjiang, or East River, Column in the war of resistance against Japan.

"When they fought against the Japanese troops in Hong Kong, they basically put their hands together with those soldiers in the major battleground in the mainland. We were part of this anti-Japanese victory," said Lau, who's also a lawmaker and member of a government working group on patriotic education.

Among those joining the war effort was the Luo family in Hong Kong.

Eleven members of the family joined the guerrilla force, while the family’s house served as a base for the anti-Japanese forces.

The house was later transformed into the Sha Tau Kok Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall and opened in 2022, with the number of visits reaching 100,000 since.

Its director Wong Chun-hong, a descendant of the Luo family, said the house was used to hold secret meetings and exchange intelligence during the war.

“They were ready to sacrifice at any time and they put the nation and its people above their own lives,” he said of his ancestors.

Wong hopes the memorial hall will preserve and pass on the history of Hong Kong people's resistance against the Japanese aggression.

The SAR government is also highlighting the city's contributions to the war victory, as it holds a series of activities marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

The official ceremony will be held at the City Hall Memorial Garden on September 3, honouring those who lost their lives in the war.

Two large-scale special exhibitions are being staged at the Hong Kong Museum of History and Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence respectively, while the Hong Kong Film Archive is presenting a thematic screening programme featuring six movies.

A website was launched by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, highlighting activities organised by the government, NGOs and various sectors of the community.