Hong Kong Democracy Activist Joshua Wong Jailed 10 More Years For Foreign Collusion

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, 30, has been sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the city’s Beijing-imposed national security law. High Court Judge William Tam said the offence was of a grave nature and set 13 years as a starting point, before reducing it to 10 years for Wong’s timely guilty plea and mitigation. Wong, who has been in prison since November 2020, was due to be released in January 2027 after serving a four-year, eight-month term for conspiracy to commit subversion in the landmark “Hong Kong 47” case. He stands out as the only person in that cohort to be charged twice under the security law.

Prosecutors accused Wong of conspiring with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and others between July and November 2020 to ask foreign countries, bodies or individuals to impose sanctions, blockades or engage in other hostile activities against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments. Tam ruled that Wong was a mastermind of the conspiracy, not a minor player, and ordered the new sentence to run concurrently with the remaining two months of his previous sentence. This means Wong is likely to remain behind bars until 2036, when he will be 40, unless he receives remission. “The punishment must fit the gravity of the crime,” Tam told a packed courtroom.

Earlier, Wong’s lawyer had argued for a shorter sentence of three to 10 years, citing time already served and Wong’s claim that he mistakenly thought his actions were within the law. Wong said he never advocated Hong Kong independence nor the collapse of China. His friend Louis Lee, a member of the now-disbanded Scholarism student group co-founded by Wong, said Wong remained “energetic” behind bars but was sometimes “worried and nervous” about the sentencing. During prison visits, the former student leader looked disappointed and would sigh from time to time, Lee recalled.

“There are always so many unknowns,” Lee said, adding that Wong has to accept this reality rather than simply continuing to feel down or unhappy because of it. Long-time supporter Margaret Chan, a 61-year-old retiree, said it was truly heartbreaking. “Such an outstanding young man, who has been exceptional since he was in his youth,” Chan said. “But he will be in his middle age by the time he is released.” Wong, once the face of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement since his teenage years, now faces a decade more in prison in a case critics say reflects the crackdown on the city’s once-thriving movement.