Leaders make peace the priority
Macron warns against mistakes of past at somber commemoration ceremony
World leaders gathered in Paris on a rainy Sunday morning to mark 100 years since the end of the World War I with a reminder not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
French President Emmanuel Macron and around 70 world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, marched to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe for a somber centenary ceremony.
The memorial marked the hour - 11 am on Nov 11, 1918 - when the guns fell silent after more than four years of killing on the Western Front.
Speaking at the ceremony, Macron said that "during these four years of fighting, Europe nearly committed suicide".
An estimated 9 million soldiers and 7 million civilians died in the conflict, also known as the Great War, which began on July 28, 1914.
Macron warned against the rise of nationalism, saying "patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism".
"Old demons are resurfacing. History sometimes threatens to take its tragic course again and compromise our hope of peace. Let us vow to prioritize peace over everything," he said.
The 40-year-old called on countries to join hands to fight challenges such as climate change, poverty, famine and inequality.
Testimonies written by soldiers on the day the ceasefire took place, and one by a Chinese laborer serving the Allied Forces in Normandy, were read by high school students at Sunday's event.
On Saturday, Macron and Merkel joined hands and signed a book of remembrance in a railway carriage identical to the one where the 1918 Armistice was inked in the Compiegne Forest, north of Paris. The two leaders also unveiled a plaque to Franco-German reconciliation and laid a wreath.
On Sunday afternoon, Macron was scheduled to host the inaugural Paris Peace Forum, which aims to promote a multilateral approach to security and governance and avoid the horrible errors that led to the outbreak of WWI.
Trump, whose nationalist "America first" policy is at odds with Macron's philosophy, planned to skip the forum.
In a statement, Merkel said the forum showed that "today there is a will, and I say this on behalf of Germany with full conviction, to do everything to bring a more peaceful order to the world, even though we know we still have much work to do."
Other commemoration events were held in Europe and across the world on Sunday.
Shen Dingli, a professor of international studies with Shanghai-based Fudan University, noted that WWI was not intended but triggered by an incident. "Today's world is full of turbulence. Though nations often compete normally and constructively, such interaction could go weird," he said.
"Without proper communication and mutual understanding, conflict could arise and escalate, potentially leading to a major disaster."
Laborers remembered
In Paris on Monday and Tuesday, a photo exhibition - "Cherishing Peace through Remembering History of War" - will be held as a reminder of the often forgotten role played by Chinese laborers serving Allied Forces in WWI. The show was also held in the Belgian city of Bruges at the weekend.
About 140,000 Chinese laborers served the Allied Forces during WWI, most of them recruited by Britain and France from 1916 to 1918.
The workers provided important logistical support on the Western Front such as by digging trenches, building docks, laying tracks, unloading ships, repairing tanks and clearing battlefields.
Around 20,000 laborers were killed or missing, including 13 who died on Nov 15, 1917 during a bombing in Poperinge in Belgium.
In the city on Saturday, Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Cao Zhongming and local officials attended a ceremony commemorating the sacrifice made by the workers.
"Remembering history is to cherish peace and build a beautiful future," Cao said at the ceremony. "War is never a solution to any problem. It will only perpetuate hatred on ruins."
Reuters contributed to this story.
chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 11/12/2018 page12)
