Joshua Wong receives 10-year prison sentence for national security violation

Joshua Wong will spend the next decade behind bars. A Hong Kong court sentenced the 30-year-old activist to 10 years in prison on Thursday for his second conviction under the city's national security law.

Wong pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. He was charged in 2025 with this offense. His legal team argued that the guilty plea should reduce the punishment, a standard practice in the jurisdiction.

Wong is already serving a four-year, eight-month sentence for a previous national security case. That earlier conviction stemmed from the city's unofficial primary election. He had entered a guilty plea in that matter and was expected to be released in January 2027. The new sentence changes that timeline.

Judge William Tam presided over the sentencing hearing. He described Wong's offense as grave and rejected the argument that his role was limited. The judge stated that he initially considered a 13-year sentence. He reduced the term because Wong accepted the guilty plea.

The judge ruled that Wong may serve his two sentences concurrently. Since Wong has only about two months remaining on his previous sentence, the new term effectively resets his release date. He will not leave prison until late 2036.

Wong appeared calm during the proceedings. He thanked his supporters before leaving the courtroom. Tiffany Chin, a former member of the disbanded student group Scholarism, was present. She was in tears as Wong walked out. Other supporters waved to him as he departed.

Resident ET Wong spoke to reporters about the activist. She recalled meeting him when he was a teenager. She said he possessed a big-picture thinking style that some adults lack. She noted that he walked a difficult path for Hong Kong's future and human rights. She stated that in her heart, he should not have spent a single day in wrongful imprisonment.

The prosecution built its case on Wong's international activities. It alleged that Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law agreed around 2016 to lobby foreign governments for democratic self-determination. The court heard that the pair called for sanctions against Hong Kong and China before the security law was introduced. The prosecution pointed to Wong's meetings with U.S. politicians Nancy Pelosi and Marco Rubio in 2016 and 2019.

After the law was enacted in 2020, the prosecution said Law and others continued their work abroad. They met with foreign politicians and launched petition drives. Wong supported these efforts from within Hong Kong. He used foreign media outlets and social media to draw attention to the case and request hostile measures against China.

Wong's lawyer, Derek Chan, asked the court to impose a sentence that allowed Wong to take care of his parents after his release. Chan urged the judge to give his client some hope. Friends described Wong's life in prison over the last six years. They said he kept reading books, exercising, and teaching himself guitar while maturing in his thinking.