<p>Rows of fidgeting Hong Kong schoolchildren looked on as a short film explained what constitutes a national security crime, using former US President Donald Trump as an example -- and a warning.</p>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>"Can anyone tell me why national security matters," a retired teacher-turned-volunteer guide, who gave her surname Kan, asked the chirping crowd.</p>.<p>"Without national security, humankind cannot live well," a student answered.</p>.<p>"Well said," Kan replied. "People cannot live well, nor can the pandas."</p>.<p>Kan told <em>AFP</em> 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>.<p>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>.<p>For foreign collusion, she used jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai -- without naming him.</p>.<p>Lai and senior editors from the now-shuttered <em>Apple</em> Daily newspaper are facing an upcoming trial on collusion charges for allegedly lobbying for international sanctions against Hong Kong.</p>.<p>Then Kan turned to the moment Hong Kong's legislature was broken into by democracy protesters in 2019.</p>.<p>"What offence was committed by the children who looked like they were going mad in the legislative council," Kan asked.</p>.<p>"Terrorism," some students replied.</p>.<p>"They didn't set a fire or kill people," Kan said, nudging them towards the offence of subversion.</p>.<p>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>.<p>Until recently, Hong Kong teachers could also join a pro-democracy union but it closed in the wake of the political crackdown.</p>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>"In the past, some ill-intentioned people... smeared national education for a long time," he said at the time.</p>.<p>"I fully believe the centre will become... a learning field that nurtures a new generation of youth who love China and Hong Kong."</p>.<p>Kan told <em>AFP</em> that she used to attend the annual vigils in Hong Kong to commemorate democracy protesters killed by Chinese troops in Tiananmen Square.</p>.<p>"But after I saw how violent it became on TV (in 2019), I had a big turn," she said, referring to the protests.</p>.<p>"I regret how late I began to love my country," she said as tears welled up in her eyes.</p>
<p>Rows of fidgeting Hong Kong schoolchildren looked on as a short film explained what constitutes a national security crime, using former US President Donald Trump as an example -- and a warning.</p>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>"Can anyone tell me why national security matters," a retired teacher-turned-volunteer guide, who gave her surname Kan, asked the chirping crowd.</p>.<p>"Without national security, humankind cannot live well," a student answered.</p>.<p>"Well said," Kan replied. "People cannot live well, nor can the pandas."</p>.<p>Kan told <em>AFP</em> 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>.<p>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>.<p>For foreign collusion, she used jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai -- without naming him.</p>.<p>Lai and senior editors from the now-shuttered <em>Apple</em> Daily newspaper are facing an upcoming trial on collusion charges for allegedly lobbying for international sanctions against Hong Kong.</p>.<p>Then Kan turned to the moment Hong Kong's legislature was broken into by democracy protesters in 2019.</p>.<p>"What offence was committed by the children who looked like they were going mad in the legislative council," Kan asked.</p>.<p>"Terrorism," some students replied.</p>.<p>"They didn't set a fire or kill people," Kan said, nudging them towards the offence of subversion.</p>.<p>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>.<p>Until recently, Hong Kong teachers could also join a pro-democracy union but it closed in the wake of the political crackdown.</p>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>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>.<p>"In the past, some ill-intentioned people... smeared national education for a long time," he said at the time.</p>.<p>"I fully believe the centre will become... a learning field that nurtures a new generation of youth who love China and Hong Kong."</p>.<p>Kan told <em>AFP</em> that she used to attend the annual vigils in Hong Kong to commemorate democracy protesters killed by Chinese troops in Tiananmen Square.</p>.<p>"But after I saw how violent it became on TV (in 2019), I had a big turn," she said, referring to the protests.</p>.<p>"I regret how late I began to love my country," she said as tears welled up in her eyes.</p>