People take part in a tree planting activity marking the Chinese Youth Day in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, May 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

US Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger, who thinks he knows China well, does not know China that well and does not know anything about the May Fourth spirit, as he has a strong prejudice against China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday in response to Pottinger's speech on the May Fourth movement. 

"Mr. Pottinger is wrong. The nature of the May Fourth movement is not what he called 'populism.' It was a patriotic revolutionary movement against imperialism and feudalism," Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at Wednesday's media briefing. 

The core of the May Fourth spirit is patriotism. The true successors of the spirit of the May Fourth movement are Chinese citizens with patriotism, Hua said. 

Monday marks the 101st anniversary of the May Fourth Movement in China. In a speech Pottinger delivered in Putonghua, he said the heirs of May Fourth are civic-minded citizens who commit small acts of bravery, and he said Li Wenliang was such a person.

Mr. Pottinger forgot that the cause of the May Fourth movement was the backroom deals among foreign powers over their privileges in Chinese territory after World War I, and the Chinese people will never accept humiliation, Hua said.

"If anyone in Washington wants to pass the buck onto and bully China over the coronavirus outbreak, the 1.4 billion Chinese will not accept it, and doctor Li Wenliang's soul will not accept it," Hua said. 

She urged US officials to have a better understanding of China's history and mind their own affairs.

Li, a doctor from Central Hospital of Wuhan who sounded an early alarm on the novel coronavirus in the country, died from COVID-19 on February 7, aged 34. 

In late April,China awarded 94 outstanding individuals and 34 groups and organizations the 24th national May 4th Medals,including Li, to mark their contributions to the country, in particular their sacrifices in combating the coronavirus this year. 

Global Times