Joshua Wong handed 10-year sentence in second Hong Kong security case

Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong has received a 10-year prison sentence following his guilty plea to charges of foreign collusion, marking his second conviction under the territory's national security legislation.

The 30-year-old former student leader has been detained continuously since 2020 and is the sole campaigner in Hong Kong to face prosecution twice pursuant to the Beijing-imposed security statutes. He had formally entered his guilty plea in September.

Prosecutors alleged that Wong partnered with Nathan Law, an exiled pro-democracy campaigner, to lobby external governments into imposing sanctions, blockades, and other punitive actions targeting China.

Delivering the judgment on Thursday, High Court Judge William Tam characterised Wong's conduct as "grave in nature." The judge noted that Wong travelled to the United States seeking overseas intervention before the security framework took effect in 2020, and maintained his involvement by distributing online posts from Law advocating for punitive measures after the statute was passed. Tam stated that Wong acted to "supply his underground support" and "arouse the attention of foreign countries to bolster the cause," framing the campaign as a broader "scheme" of external collusion.

The court ordered that the decade-long penalty run concurrently alongside the remainder of Wong's prior term. Wong had previously received a sentence of four years and eight months in November 2024 on charges of subversion linked to his participation in an unofficial legislative primary vote. Before the latest verdict, his expected release had been scheduled for January 2027.

Wong was seen in the courtroom wearing a dark blue shirt and thick-rimmed glasses, nodding and bowing toward spectators in the gallery. Dozens of members of the public lined up outside the courthouse beneath a visible police deployment, with foreign diplomats also attending the proceeding.

Rights organisations and overseas allies strongly denounced the court's decision. Sarah Brooks, deputy regional director at Amnesty International, called the outcome "another grim reminder of how Hong Kong's national security law has become a tool to punish dissent rather than to genuinely protect national security."

In an issued response, Nathan Law described his sadness over his friend receiving another penal sanction for nonviolent advocacy, asserting that Beijing remains resolved to suppress democratic aspirations.

Wong first drew global attention as a teenager leading the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests. When mass unrest emerged in 2019 regarding an extradition proposal, he was briefly jailed for earlier demonstrations before rejoining public rallies upon release. Beijing subsequently instituted sweeping national security laws in 2020, measures authorities defend as vital for public order but which opponents argue have dismantled independent journalism, civic organisations, and political dissent across the city.