HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court sentences a prominent activist Joshua Wong to an additional 10 years in prison Thursday under a national security law imposed by Beijing, in a case that critics say underscores the crackdown on the city’s once-thriving pro-democracy movement.
Wong, 30, first led student protests as a teenager and became involved in international advocacy efforts for Hong Kong’s democracy movement. He was already serving a four-year, eight-month prison sentence after pleading guilty in the city’s largest court. national security matterand was due to be released in January.
But he was additionally charged in 2025 with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security, a violation of the security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
Judge William Tam said Wong and his fellow activists Nathan Law colluded with foreign officials and other foreign actors and sought action against China and Hong Kong.
The judge emphasized American revocation preferential treatment given to the city as a special administrative region and US sanctions imposed on Chinese and Hong Kong officials, saying these were the kind of sanctions or hostile measures called for by Wong and Law.
“The punishment must be appropriate to the seriousness of the crime committed,” Tam wrote. “It is also necessary for this court to express the community’s horror at the defendant’s plan and to act with others to come to terms with the foreign forces.”
The United States strongly condemned the conviction and called for Wong’s immediate release.
Wong pleaded guilty to the offense earlier this year. Tam said he considered a 13-year prison sentence as a starting point, but reduced it because of Wong’s guilty plea and mitigating measures.
Tam said Wong would serve the remaining two months of his sentence for his first conviction for national security at the same time as the new sentence.
Wong looked calm during sentencing
Before the hearing, Wong, who appeared in the High Court in a dark shirt, nodded to his supporters and pro-democracy activists in the public gallery.
He appeared serious but calm as the judge read his sentencing remarks. “Thank you everyone,” he told his supporters before leaving the courtroom.
Tiffany Chin, a former member of the now-disbanded Scholarism movement once led by Wong, was in tears after the sentencing.
As the number of seats was limited, some took turns entering the courtroom. Dozens of people had lined up outside the court for a place in the public gallery, some as early as Tuesday. One resident, ET Wong, said Wong had traveled a difficult path for Hong Kong’s future, human rights and the student movement. “He should not have spent a single day in wrongful imprisonment,” she said.
In a written statement from prison, Wong said he believed he was acting within the law and was not directly advocating sanctions when he reposted other people’s social media posts or called on foreign companies to consider ceasing relations with Hong Kong police. He said he later realized his judgment was wrong.
He said that during his almost six years of imprisonment, he enrolled in college courses and read numerous books. He said he dedicated himself to becoming a better person and hoped he would look back on the experience as helping to build his character when he looked back one day.
Wong’s convictions seen as discouraging dissent
Hong Kong once had a free civil society. But after huge anti-government protests rocked the city in 2019, authorities reduced public choice in the elections and arrested many prominent activists. Some media outlets known for reporting critical of the government close and dozens of civil society groups dissolved.
Observers say Wong’s conviction shows the authorities’ determination to keep prominent activists in prison for as long as possible.
Eric Lai, a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said most of the alleged activities after the security law took effect were purely online expressions and transmission of public information, which would not be considered a big threat to national security in liberal countries.
Law, who is wanted by Hong Kong authorities, said in a statement that it was incredibly sad to see his friend face further sentences for his peaceful advocacy work.
Beijing views Wong as an anti-China figure supporting Hong Kong’s independence, a position that crosses its red line. Hong Kong authorities say the security law is crucial to the city’s stability after 2019 protests, saying the city’s steps to enforce the law were based on evidence.
The US Consulate in Hong Kong said in a statement that Wong had been “unjustly imprisoned” since late 2020, showing that “Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who defend fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong.”
But the city government said the consulate’s remarks amounted to baseless attacks and smears that amounted to “patently despicable political manipulation.”
Prosecution highlights Wong’s lobbying and advocacy efforts
The prosecution alleged that Wong and Law agreed around 2016 to engage in international lobbying to achieve their goal of democratic self-determination.
After the security law was enacted, Law, who left for the United Kingdom, and others advanced their work abroad by meeting with foreign politicians and launching petitions, the statement said. Wong supported Hong Kong’s efforts through foreign media and social media to attract international attention and strengthen the demand for sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures against China and Hong Kong, he said.
Wong’s lawyer, Derek Chan, urged the court to impose a sentence that would give his client some hope, adding that Wong wanted to take care of his parents after his release.
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities defend the decision
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing that Wong pleaded guilty despite overwhelming facts and evidence and that the central government supports Hong Kong in maintaining national security.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said Wong, Law and their accomplices were among the “primary culprits responsible for undermining Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.”
Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police’s national security department, welcomed the court’s decision and said he hoped Wong would reflect on his wrongdoing.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the conviction is a clear example of how the security law is being used to target individuals for political expression and participation.
For his supporters, Wong is a political star representing a younger generation born in the final years of British colonial rule in Hong Kong, before the city’s return to China in 1997.
Despite being held behind bars, Wong’s influence appears to have remained a concern for the pro-Beijing camp.
In September, a pro-Beijing newspaper article criticized a 2017 Netflix documentary about Wong for “embellishing” his crimes. The city security office told local media that the government was taking follow-up measures.
The documentary then topped Netflix’s most-watched list in Hong Kong.
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