Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong sentenced to 10 more years in prison

Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to 10 more years in prison for collusion with foreign powers.

Mr Wong has already served four years and eight months in prison for subversion under the city’s sweeping national security laws and was expecting to be freed in January.

But Hong Kong authorities used the same Beijing-imposed law to charge the 30-year-old activist again in June 2025, accusing him of asking other countries to impose sanctions against the city and China.

He pleaded guilty in September and was sentenced today.

Mr Wong rose to international prominence as an influential figure in Hong Kong’s 2014 protests, known as the Umbrella Movement.

Critics say the case reflects the ongoing crackdown on Hong Kong’s once-thriving pro-democracy movement.

During Thursday’s sentencing, High Court Judge William Tam said Mr Wong’s offence was of a grave nature and rejected that his role was limited.

The judge also said he considered a 13-year prison sentence as a starting point but reduced it because of his guilty plea.

Mr Wong, who had two months left on his previous jail term, will also be allowed to serve both prison sentences concurrently.

Before leaving court, he thanked his supporters who waved to him. Tiffany Chin, a former member of the now-disbanded Scholarism student activist group, once led by Mr Wong, was in tears.

Sentence ‘absurd’, critic says

Mr Wong’s sentencing has sparked backlash internationally, with critics accusing the government of becoming increasingly repressive.

The US consulate in Hong Kong said it “strongly condemns” the sentence and called for Mr Wong’s “immediate release”.

“Wong has been unjustly imprisoned since December 2020, demonstrating that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate for fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong,” a spokesperson said.

China’s foreign ministry warned against those speaking out on the decision.

“Relevant parties should earnestly respect China’s sovereignty, respect Hong Kong’s legal system, stop making irresponsible remarks regarding the trial of HKSAR [Hong Kong] judicial cases,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news briefing.

Melbourne-based lawyer and prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy advocate Kevin Yam called the 10-year jail term “absurd”, given the court’s prior rulings on other crimes.

“My first reaction was that this is absolutely absurd that a man fighting for democracy and lobbying internationally for democracy in Hong Kong gets 10 years,” Mr Yam said.

“It becomes even more absurd when compared with another Hong Kong judgment yesterday where a pro-Beijing politician convicted of paedophilia only got two and a half years.

“So we’re saying that fighting for democracy is now more of a crime than paedophilia in Hong Kong.”

In handing down his sentence, Judge Tan said: “The punishment must fit the gravity of the crime.”

“It is also necessary for the court to express the community’s abhorrence of the defendant’s scheme and acts with others to collude with foreign forces or external elements to endanger national security,” he told the court.

Mr Yam said the judge was articulating the will of Beijing and should not have dragged Hong Kong’s societal expectations into his sentencing.

“We know what Hong Kong society thinks,” he said.

“They expressed their views back in 2019 so resoundingly that Beijing had to crack down on all of this.”

Human Rights Watch condemned Mr Wong’s sentencing as “harsh” and “unjust” and called for the former student activist to be released immediately.

“The harsh sentence on baseless charges against Joshua Wong is cruel and unjust,” the organisation’s Asia director Elaine Pearson said.

“Young people promoting social change are an asset for any vibrant society, but the Hong Kong government puts them behind bars.”

Despite outcry, Mr Yam did not believe the sentencing would create a “further chilling effect”, but said it was symbolic of how low Hong Kong’s international reputation had fallen.

“This case was brought specifically just to keep Joshua Wong in jail and to punish him further and to try and ensure that he’ll be a middle-aged man before he would see the light of day again,” he said.

“I mean, we kind of already know already from all the earlier cases, but now they’re just going to the extent of making up charges to keep people in jail.”

Prosecution points to lobbying efforts

The prosecution previously alleged that Mr Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law had agreed in or about 2016 to lobby internationally to achieve their goal of democratic self-determination.

They said that before the national security law was introduced, the pair had been calling for sanctions and other adverse measures against Hong Kong and China, pointing to meetings with US politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Marco Rubio in 2016 and 2019.

After the law was enacted, Mr Law and others advanced their work abroad by meeting foreign politicians and launching petition drives, it said.

His lawyer Derek Chan urged the court to impose a sentence that would give Mr Wong some hope, adding that his client wished to take care of his parents upon release.

To his supporters, Mr Wong is a political star representing a younger generation born in the final years of Hong Kong’s British colonial rule before the city’s return to China in 1997.

ABC/wires