The grand ceremony for the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy was held in Caen, France last Sunday and it attracted universal attention, including a lot of people in this city. Dragon TV even showed a three-hour live broadcast of the ceremony.

We know the D-Day invasion was one of the world's largest military expeditions which cost tens of thousands of lives but it was through this sacrifice that the Allies eventually wrested control of mainland Europe from Nazi Germany.

Although the mission itself has nothing to do with the people here on the other side of the world, we still felt the same admiration for those young soldiers buried in the quiet graves marked with white crosses and Stars of David. Because they died for a grand reason, it is right to remember their bravery and contribution to the world's peaceful causes.

However, what aroused my greatest attention was not the gathering of more than 20 world leaders, including Presidents Bush, Chirac, Putin, Queen Elizabeth II and other top leaders from the victorious Allies but rather the attendance of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, the first appearance ever at a D-Day commemoration by a German leader.

For a time I just wondered what had inspired him to be at the ceremony. Was it embarrassing or shameful to attend the anniversary ceremony of a battle his own country had lost? Would this D-Day be regarded as a defeat or as a liberation by the German people? Schroeder answered both questions, not with words, but with actions. He even went to a British Commonwealth cemetery to lay a wreath to show his remorse instead of going to the German cemetery where thousands of German soldiers were buried.

Some people might be confused and irritated when confronted by those images, especially some "patriots" who always label themselves as being extremely devoted to their country. To them it might as well be a sign of weakness or lack of dignity.

In fact, Schroeder's action was a symbol of the rehabilitation of the new Germany and of how far it has come in burying its bloody past.

We should applaud Schroeder and, at the same time, reconsider our attitudes towards regional or international affairs. When confronting any political crisis, I always hear some passionate patriots chanting: "Chinese people should no longer lose national dignity." At other times there would be even more inflamed words of "an eye for an eye". And this attitude is surging in many people's minds, especially among some of the young.

It is quite natural that we all want our country to better its international position and defend its sovereignty, but the question when dealing with critical matters is how our government can remain cool and reasonable when its people have sunk into a mood of overheated patriotism.

Some time ago, there was a book entitled: "China Can Say No" and it was a best-seller in China. It represented the popular view that the country must become stronger in its international stances. I'm not challenging this opinion, I am just more concerned about the way we link our past and our present.

Surely we'll never forget that China did go through a miserable period when it was ravaged by invaders but this cannot be used as a reason to make us more sensitive or aggressive when facing a new crisis. To say "No" is quite an easy thing, but to say it on behalf of 1.3 billion people and affect our future development is not so easy.

Schroeder didn't say "No" to the invitation to attend the D-Day ceremony and he opened a new door for Germany to enter a new era. Now it's time we walked away from our past and into a brilliant future.

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