Since my prep school days in England, I’d worn the poppy around Remembrance Day. But as the only Mainland Chinese, I used to wonder, what was the relevance for me?

So I learned.

In WWI, 140,000 Chinese workers braved perilous journeys to join the British and French on the European frontlines. They cleared mines, dug trenches, and built roads.

But it was a thankless sacrifice, for the Treaty of Versailles ceded German-held Chinese territory to Japan. The sting of betrayal sparked the May Fourth Movement of 1919, which inspired the next generation of revolutionaries.

In WWII, we lost 20 million - more than the entire European theatre minus the Soviets.

But the December Ninth Movement of 1935 brought a fractured nation together. Reds and blues stood shoulder to shoulder, joined by Americans too.

And so, beyond thanking the veterans, lest we forget: whether through betrayal or alliance, our fates remain intertwined. We'll have our chip sanctions and trade spats, but what we share will always outweigh what separates us.