To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Monterey Park officials and delegates from the People’s Republic of China paid their respects Thursday to the 20 million Chinese and 418,500 Ameri­­cans who lost their lives in the devastating conflict.

Former Mayor Betty Tom Chu said Chinese and American cooperation resulted in the famed Flying Tigers — pilots who shot down 296 enemy aircraft, weakening the Japanese and speeding the end of a horrendous moment in history. Kunming province became a home base for these U.S. sharpshooters, who risked their lives to keep the locals safe.

“If the Chinese had not risen in defiance of the foreign invasion, something much more disastrous could have happened to world peace,” she said. “On behalf of the American and Chinese World War II Memorial Association, I’d like to remind people that the Chinese did participate in the World War II. And not only did they participate, but their activities in fighting the aggression helped end the war.”

Among those in attendance in council chambers and in front of the United States’ only American and Chinese World War II memorial — dedicated in November 2010 — were Monterey Park city leaders; dele­gates from Nanjing, the capital of China during WWII; officials from Kunming, which hosted 325 of the heroic Flying Tigers; and 13 WWII veterans, all there to honor the lives lost and express their hope for prolonged world peace.

Leland Sun, great-grandson of Sun Yat-sen, founding leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party, was on hand, having donated a set of 1942 stamps featuring Sun Yat-sen and Abraham Lincoln. These were the first U.S. stamps that included a Chinese person, said WWII historian Pedro Chan.

City Councilwoman Teresa Real Sebastian expressed her gratitude to the WWII veterans — and her desire for peace.

“The things that are transpiring in other countries right now, sometimes I’m on edge thinking, ‘I hope things calm down,’ ” she said. “It’s important that we keep talking about this and not just focus on the positive aspects of humanity but also look at these things so that we could remember and we could learn. And we could preserve what is good and makes all of us human.”

In December 1937, the Japanese army invaded Nanjing and raped, tortured and murdered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians, a number exceeding the death toll in the atomic bomb deaths of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It is fitting that the cele­bration of Chinese-American efforts of the day took place in Monterey Park, Chu said, noting it was the first U.S. city to become majority Chinese and the first municipality to have a largely Chinese City Council.

WWII veteran Ray Molina, 87, is one of six brothers who enlisted to serve his country. While they all survived the conflict, Molina is the only one who still survives.