Joshua Wong receives 10-year prison term in Hong Kong
The judge reduced a 13-year starting point due to the activist's guilty plea, adding time to his existing sentence for national security violations.
By Bianca Herrera ·
Joshua Wong will spend the next decade in a Hong Kong prison after a judge sentenced him to 10 years on Thursday. The 30-year-old activist accepted the punishment for his second conviction under the national security law imposed by Beijing. This ruling extends his time behind bars for a second consecutive charge related to the city's political crackdown.
Wong pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. Judge William Tam stated the offense was of a grave nature. The judge noted he initially considered a 13-year sentence but lowered the term because of the guilty plea. Tam also rejected the argument that Wong's role in the conspiracy was limited.
Wong is already serving a sentence of four years and eight months for a separate national security case. That prior conviction stemmed from an unofficial primary election and resulted in a guilty plea. He had been scheduled for release in January 2027. The judge ordered the two sentences to run concurrently. This means Wong has only about two months left on his previous term before the new sentence effectively takes over.
During the hearing, Wong appeared calm. He thanked his supporters before leaving the courtroom. Outside, Tiffany Chin, a former member of the now-disbanded Scholarism group, was seen in tears. Resident ET Wong, a supporter, described Wong as a teenager with big-picture thinking. She stated that in her heart, he should not have spent a single day in wrongful imprisonment.
The prosecution argued that Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law agreed to lobby internationally for democratic self-determination around 2016. They alleged the pair called for sanctions against Hong Kong and China before the security law was introduced. The court record points to Wong's meetings with U.S. politicians Nancy Pelosi and Marco Rubio in 2016 and 2019. After the law passed, the prosecution said Wong supported foreign petition drives and used social media to draw international attention.
Beijing views Wong as an anti-China figure who supports Hong Kong independence. Authorities maintain the security law is essential for stability following the 2019 protests. Eric Lai, a research fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the charges can be weaponized to keep political prisoners in jail. He noted the sentencing shows the government's determination to chill civic activism.
Wong's defense attorney Derek Chan asked the court to allow Wong some hope for the future. Chan noted that Wong wishes to care for his parents after his release. Friends say Wong kept reading books, exercising, and teaching himself guitar during his nearly six years in prison. A pro-Beijing newspaper recently criticized a 2017 Netflix documentary about Wong for beautifying his crimes, even as the film climbed the popularity charts in Hong Kong.
