Hong Kong Court Sentences Activist Joshua Wong to 10 Additional Years for Foreign Collusion

A court in Hong Kong has sentenced democracy activist Joshua Wong to an additional ten years in prison after finding him guilty of colluding with foreign powers under the territory's national security law. The court announced the decision in a press summary published on Thursday. Wong, who turned 30 last month, has already spent almost six years in custody and had previously pleaded guilty to the charges in September.

The former student leader was initially scheduled for release in January after serving a term of four years and eight months for subversion. However, Hong Kong authorities brought new charges against him under the security legislation in June 2025. Prosecutors accused Wong of calling on foreign governments and overseas organisations to implement sanctions against China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

According to court details, the prosecution focused on Wong's international advocacy dating back to 2016. In 2019, during widespread anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong, Wong travelled to the United States as part of a delegation to campaign for the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The legislation was enacted by the US Congress and empowered the American president to enact sanctions against officials involved in human rights abuses in the territory.

Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London, stated that Chinese authorities viewed Wong as a prominent figure from the 2019 unrest and intended to make an example of him. Tsang noted that the trial signaled Beijing's intention to maintain firm governance over Hong Kong. Human rights groups separately stated that the second set of charges represented an effort by authorities to ensure Wong's continued incarceration.

Wong originally entered public life during the 2014 pro-democracy protests known as the Umbrella Movement and co-founded the student group Scholarism. He was sentenced in 2024 alongside dozens of other opposition figures in Hong Kong's largest national security case. While several co-defendants have completed their sentences and been released in recent months, Wong remains the only individual in that group to be charged twice under the national security law.

During the proceedings on Thursday morning, police officers were deployed in large numbers around the court complex. Wong's defense lawyers had argued for a reduced term of three to ten years, taking into account the time he had already served. The newly imposed ten-year prison sentence extends Wong's period of detention into his late thirties.

Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com