Hong Kong’s High Court has sentenced prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the city’s national security law. The sentence, handed down on Thursday, is Wong’s second conviction under the Beijing-imposed law and keeps the 30-year-old behind bars for years to come.
FAKTA
- Who: Joshua Wong, 30, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist
- Sentence: 10 years in prison, handed down by the Hong Kong High Court on Thursday, 5 November 2026
- Charge: Conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s national security law
- Plea: Wong pleaded guilty to the charge in September 2026
- Judge: Judge William Tam, who described the offence as being of a “grave nature”
- Current term: Wong is already serving four years and eight months for subversion and had been due for release in January 2027
Joshua Wong jailed 10 years over foreign collusion charge
Wong was accused of conspiring with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and others in 2020 to ask foreign countries, institutions, organisations or individuals to impose sanctions or blockades, or to engage in other hostile activities against the governments of Hong Kong and China. He was charged in 2025 and pleaded guilty in September.
Judge William Tam said during the sentencing hearing that Wong’s offence was of a grave nature and rejected the argument that his role had been limited. The judge said he had considered a 13-year prison sentence as a starting point but reduced it because of Wong’s guilty plea.
Wong appeared calm in court and thanked his supporters before leaving the courtroom. Supporters waved to him, and Tiffany Chin, a former member of the now-disbanded student group Scholarism once led by Wong, was in tears.
Already serving a prison term
Wong is already serving a prison term of four years and eight months after pleading guilty in the city’s biggest national security case, linked to unofficial primary elections held in 2020. Before the collusion charge was brought, he had been expected to be freed in January 2027.
The judge said Wong could serve his two prison sentences concurrently. He has about two months left on the sentence for his previous national security conviction. Human Rights Watch said Wong faces imprisonment until late 2036, when he will be 40.
Wong has been in custody since November 2020, when he was 23. He became a prominent activist as a teenager and was once described as the international face of Hong Kong’s democracy movement. He turned 30 last month.
Prosecution pointed to lobbying and advocacy
The prosecution had alleged that Wong and Nathan Law agreed in or around 2016 to lobby internationally in pursuit of democratic self-determination, and that before the security law was introduced they had called for sanctions and other adverse measures against Hong Kong and China. Prosecutors pointed to his meetings with US politicians, including Nancy Pelosi and Marco Rubio, in 2016 and 2019.
After the law was enacted, Law and others continued their work abroad by meeting foreign politicians and launching petition drives, the prosecution said. Wong supported the effort from Hong Kong through foreign media outlets and social media, it said.
His lawyer, Derek Chan, had urged the court to impose a sentence that would give his client some hope, adding that Wong wishes to take care of his parents after his release.
Reactions to the sentence
The sentence has drawn sharply different reactions. Amnesty International described the 10-year term as cruel and a grim reminder of what it called the city’s disdain for human rights, while Human Rights Watch said Wong was sentenced on baseless national security charges.
Observers quoted by news agencies said the sentencing showed the authorities’ determination to keep prominent activists in prison for as long as possible. Hong Kong authorities have said the security law is crucial for the city’s stability following the 2019 protests, and that law enforcement actions are evidence-based.
Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020, after huge pro-democracy protests convulsed the city in 2019. More than 180 people have been convicted of national security offences in Hong Kong since 2020, according to the Hong Kong Security Bureau.
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