The Second Sino-Japanese war, referred within China and Taiwan as "War of Resistance" and in Japan as "China-Japan war", was a war between the Kuomintang-led Republic of China with Communist China assistance and the Empire of Japan. The war began on 7 July 1937 when Japan invaded Manchuria, and was arguably the start of World War II. The war, and World War II, ended with the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II on 2 September 1945.