Joshua Wong Sentenced to 10 Years for Collusion With Foreign Forces

Joshua Wong, 30, the face of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison for collusion with foreign forces.¹²³ It is his second conviction under the national security law imposed by Beijing.¹²³ Wong was due to be released in January 2027, at the end of his previous sentence.¹ He is now not expected to be free before the end of 2036.⁴³

What is Joshua Wong accused of?

Prosecutors say Wong teamed up with Nathan Law, an activist in exile, to press foreign governments for sanctions, blockades or other hostile steps against China. Wong admitted guilt in September.¹² Officials trace his international lobbying back to 2016, when he campaigned for the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, legislation allowing the American president to impose sanctions in response to human rights abuses in the city. In 2019 Wong joined a delegation to the United States to back the bill, which was subsequently passed.²⁴ Hong Kong charged him again in June 2025, under the same law that had already led to his first conviction.²⁴

What did the court rule?

High Court judge William Tam described the acts as “grave” in nature. He noted that Wong had been in the United States asking for foreign intervention before the law was introduced in 2020 and that, after it came into force, he had continued to share Law’s posts in favor of sanctions on social media.¹ According to the judge, Wong’s role was to provide “clandestine support” and to draw the attention of foreign countries in order to strengthen the cause. The court described Wong and Law as “two leaders or inspirers” of a plot against national security.¹⁴ Given the gravity of the offense, Wong could in theory have faced life in prison. Tam judged 13 years to be a “suitable starting point” and cut it to 10 because Wong pleaded guilty. The defense had requested a term of three to ten years, with the time Wong had already served taken into account.²⁴ The new term will run concurrently with the remainder of the earlier one: four years and eight months, handed down in November 2024 for conspiracy to commit subversion over Wong’s part in an unofficial opposition primary election. Wong has been behind bars since December 2020, nearly six years in detention.¹²

What is Hong Kong’s national security law?

It is the law that Beijing introduced in 2020, saying it was needed to restore stability in the former British colony. Critics argue that it has been used against political opposition, to dissolve civil society organizations and to silence independent media.¹ After its adoption, opposition groups disbanded and several activists left the city. Under the same law, in February publisher Jimmy Lai, founder of the newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years.⁴ Wong was one of dozens of pro-democracy figures found guilty of “subversion” in 2024, in the city’s biggest national security case. Several of his co-defendants have walked free in recent months after completing their terms, but he is the only one in the group to face a second indictment.²⁴

How have governments and organizations reacted?

The US consulate in Hong Kong said it “strongly condemned” the new sentence and demanded Wong’s immediate release. Human Rights Watch labeled it “cruel and unjust” and called on foreign governments to impose targeted sanctions on the officials responsible. Amnesty International said the law is a tool used to punish dissent more than to protect national security.¹⁴ Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun urged the “parties concerned” to respect China’s sovereignty and Hong Kong’s legal system and to stop making “irresponsible” comments. Steve Li of Hong Kong’s national security police welcomed the ruling and said it shows that Wong’s efforts to obtain foreign sanctions were futile.¹²⁴ Nathan Law said in a statement that the sentence punishes peaceful activity in support of democracy in Hong Kong.¹

Why it matters

The case shows how the 2020 law can produce a second conviction for a prisoner who was about to finish serving his first: Wong goes from an expected release in January 2027 to one at the end of 2036. Human rights organizations argue that the prosecution is a deliberate attempt to keep him in prison, while Beijing speaks of defending national security in accordance with the law.¹²⁴ For analyst Steve Tsang of SOAS University of London, the ruling indicates that Beijing maintains tight control over Hong Kong and that there is no room for a return to the more relaxed climate that existed before 2019. This is an expert’s reading, formulated before the ruling.²⁴

This article was written by artificial intelligence from the sources cited, without human review. Automatic newsroom by Redazia.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong sentenced to 10 years in prison in national security case, The Guardian · World, 2026-11-05 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

2. Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong gets 10 more years in jail for foreign collusion, France 24, 2026-11-05 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. Hong Kong activist jailed for 10 more years for collusion with foreign forces, France 24, 2026-11-05 ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong sentenced to 10 more years for collusion, Euronews, 2026-11-05 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹