A video clip showing Chinese honor guards marching at a rehearsal for Saturday's military parade in Moscow has gone viral in China. Chinese President Xi Jinping will be present at the parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the anti-fascist war in Moscow. China will also host a grand military parade for the same anniversary later in September.

Russia's military parade on May 9, aka Victory Day, is a long tradition. In the past, many leaders from the Western world also attended such ceremonies, but this year, Russia's commemorative events will fall victim to the Ukraine crisis. By declining Moscow's invitation, many Western leaders are trying to show how isolated Russia has become. Such an action, however, is a disappointment.

Geopolitical conflicts shouldn't jeopardize the legacy of WWII, which is treasured by all humanity. Some Western countries should not have been so narrow-minded that they deliberately bound the commemorative event with geopolitics.

The Western world likes using "boycotts" to counter many things with which they differ. Western elites think what they believe in is the advanced level of human civilization. In their minds, the West should represent the international community, and naysayers should be isolated.

Russia's current relations with the West have not been this bad since the end of the Cold War. But it doesn't mean that Russia has been isolated on the occasion of the commemoration. A joint "absence" of Western leaders will not be endorsed by the international community.

The West should realize that times have changed. The world is no longer divided into two camps, whose standoff held sway over all global affairs. Any attempt to resume this antagonism is irresponsible. The world suffered a lot from WWII, and the biggest lesson we have learned is that we cannot forsake peace and stability for some mirage-like ambitions. No one should put its own national interest above that of  any others any more.

Chinese society is not interested in getting involved in the politicization of Russia's Victory Day. There are voices citing that China should take the rising tensions between Russia and the West as an opportunity to earn diplomatic points in the international community. But, as for the Chinese, we commemorate Victory Day with the Russians without ulterior motives. We are expecting honor guards from more countries to march to Red Square, a sign which only shows unity and cooperation instead of geopolitical struggles.

We can get an inkling of how split the world has become due to the West's boycott. But we still believe that humanity's desires for reconciliation and mutual understanding will outmatch conflicts and wars.