{"id":81051,"date":"2022-09-03T11:27:37","date_gmt":"2022-09-03T11:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=81051"},"modified":"2022-09-03T11:27:37","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T11:27:37","slug":"pandas-and-trump-teach-hong-kong-kids-about-national-security-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=81051","title":{"rendered":"Pandas and Trump teach Hong Kong kids about national security crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Rows of fidgeting Hong Kong schoolchildren looked on as a short\u00a0film\u00a0explained what constitutes a national security crime, using former US President Donald Trump as an example — and a warning.<\/p>\n

The TV was surrounded by dozens of stuffed panda toys, which the children were assured they could play with later if they listened attentively.<\/p>\n

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The screening was at Hong Kong's first patriotic education centre, which teaches students about the city's new national security law as well as China's history and achievements.<\/p>\n

Beijing imposed the sweeping law on Hong Kong to snuff out dissent after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019 — and schools have been ordered to instil a new sense of patriotism into children.<\/p>\n

As the new academic year began on Thursday, another group of some 40 students from Pui Kiu College, known for its patriotic teaching, were among the first visitors.<\/p>\n

“Can anyone tell me why national security matters,” a retired teacher-turned-volunteer guide, who gave her surname Kan, asked the chirping crowd.<\/p>\n

“Without national security, humankind cannot live well,” a student answered.<\/p>\n

“Well said,” Kan replied. “People cannot live well, nor can the pandas.”<\/p>\n

Kan told AFP her “most important” task was helping children understand the four new offences under the security law: secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism.<\/p>\n

– Trump and Lai –<\/p>\n

During Kan's talk, Trump and the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riot were used to illustrate subversion — the offence of trying to topple or undermine the government.<\/p>\n

For foreign collusion, she used jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai — without naming him.<\/p>\n

Lai and senior editors from the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper are facing an upcoming trial on collusion charges for allegedly lobbying for international sanctions against Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Then Kan turned to the moment Hong Kong's legislature was broken into by democracy protesters in 2019.<\/p>\n

“What offence was committed by the children who looked like they were going mad in the legislative council,” Kan asked.<\/p>\n

“Terrorism,” some students replied.<\/p>\n

“They didn't set a fire or kill people,” Kan said, nudging them towards the offence of subversion.<\/p>\n

– Political conversion –<\/p>\n

The centre is operated by the city's largest pro-Beijing teachers union in a vacated school at the foot of Lion Rock — a mountain popularly considered a symbol of the city's can-do spirit.<\/p>\n

Until recently, Hong Kong teachers could also join a pro-democracy union but it closed in the wake of the political crackdown.<\/p>\n

The huge 2019 rallies came after years of growing demands for Hong Kongers to have a greater say in how their city is run.<\/p>\n

Leaders in Beijing and Hong Kong have dismissed calls for democracy and instead portrayed the movement as a foreign-directed plot to destabilise all of China.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong's new leader John Lee, a former security chief who helped lead that crackdown, attended the centre's inauguration ceremony in July.<\/p>\n

“In the past, some ill-intentioned people… smeared national education for a long time,” he said at the time.<\/p>\n

“I fully believe the centre will become… a learning field that nurtures a new generation of youth who love China and Hong Kong.”<\/p>\n

Kan told AFP that she used to attend the annual vigils in Hong Kong to commemorate democracy protesters killed by Chinese troops in Tiananmen Square.<\/p>\n

“But after I saw how violent it became on TV (in 2019), I had a big turn,” she said, referring to the protests.<\/p>\n

“I regret how late I began to love my country,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rows of fidgeting Hong Kong schoolchildren looked on as a short\u00a0film\u00a0explained what constitutes a national security crime, using former US President Donald Trump as an example — and a warning. The TV was surrounded by dozens of stuffed panda toys, which the children were assured they could play with later if they listened attentively. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":81052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n