Joshua Wong jailed for 10 years in second Hong Kong security case

Hong Kong — Joshua Wong, once the most recognisable face of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for colluding with foreign forces, his second conviction under the national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020.

Wong, who turned 30 last month, has already spent nearly six years behind bars. He is serving a four-year, eight-month term for subversion over an unofficial primary election, and had been expected to be freed in January 2027 before the new charge was brought, The Hindu reported. He pleaded guilty to the collusion charge in September.

Judge William Tam said he had considered a 13-year sentence as a starting point but reduced it because of the guilty plea, ruling that the offence was of a grave nature and that Wong's role was not limited. Two months and two days of the new term will run concurrently with his existing sentence, the BBC reported.

Prosecutors said Wong conspired with fellow campaigners, including the self-exiled activist Nathan Law, to lobby for foreign sanctions and blockades against Beijing between July and late November 2020. The Hindu reported that the prosecution pointed to his meetings with US politicians including Nancy Pelosi and Marco Rubio in 2016 and 2019. Wong and Law co-founded Demosisto, a now-defunct pro-democracy party.

Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee said Wong and Law were "among the primary culprits responsible for undermining Hong Kong's prosperity and stability". Critics disagreed sharply. Human Rights Watch's Asia director Elaine Pearson said the government "appears to have adopted the tactic of stacking charges against influential pro-democracy leaders", calling the ruling "cruel and unjust". Eric Lai of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law told The Hindu that security charges "can be repeatedly weaponized to keep a specific political prisoner in jail".

Wong is among hundreds arrested under the law since 2020, a period in which critical news outlets have closed and dozens of civil society groups dissolved. The harshest sentence under the law so far remains the 20 years given to former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, also for colluding with foreign forces. Wong's lawyer Derek Chan had urged the court to give his client "some hope", saying he wishes to care for his parents after release; with the new term, that prospect now lies at least a decade away.