Matt Pottinger Talks About Dr. Li Wenliang and the May Fourth Movement, Saying

This year marks the 101 anniversary of the May Fourth Movement and Matt Pottinger, Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States, delivered a speech in perfect Mandarin to both talk about the relationship between the United States and China and about the civic-minded Chinese people, using the May Fourth Movement. He pointed out that Dr. Li Wenliang, who first bravely revealed the CCP virus, is heir to the spirit of the May Fourth Movement. At the same time, Matt also praised Taiwan as living evidence of democracy and said China can be democratic as well. Matt Pottinger, Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States, “To my mind, the heirs of May Fourth are civic-minded citizens who commit small acts of bravery. Dr. Li Wenliang was such a person.” Using perfect Mandarin, Pottinger named Dr. Li Wenliang, as ophthalmologist who was not afraid of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) suppression and was brave enough to reveal the truth about the epidemic. These heirs also include disappeared citizen journalists, Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua, who tried to shed light on the outbreak in Wuhan, and the millions of Hong Kong citizens who peacefully demonstrated for the rule of law last year. Pottinger continued, “When small acts of bravery are stamped out by governments, big acts of bravery follow. We have seen big acts of moral and physical courage recently. When a privileged few grow too remote and self-interested, populism is what pulls them back or pitches them overboard. It has a kinetic energy.” On May 4, a White House official talked about the May Fourth Movement that happened a century ago. Now, where is the heart of the May Fourth Movement? Pottinger also talked about the aspiration for democracy in the May Fourth Movement and quoted Hu Shih and the drafter of the “Declaration of Human Rights,” P.C. Chang. He even mentioned today’s democratic Taiwan to repute the ideology of the CCP. Pottinger: “The cliche ‘The Chinese people can’t be trusted with democracy’ was, as both P.C. Chang and Hu Shih knew, the most unpatriotic idea of all. Taiwan today is a living repudiation of that threadbare mistruth.” He warned the Chinese Communist Party that suppression of freedom causes backlash of public opinion and believes that the May Fourth Movement belongs to the Chinese people.