Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison on Thursday under the city's Beijing-imposed national security law. Wong, 30, was already due to complete a separate four-year and eight-month sentence in January, but prosecutors filed new charges against him in 2025 for conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
High Court Judge William Tam ruled that Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law, who now lives in the United Kingdom, had colluded with foreign politicians and groups to urge hostile measures against China and Hong Kong. Prosecutors cited online posts, media appearances, and calls for sanctions or boycotts as evidence of this conspiracy. Tam started with a 13-year sentence before reducing it to 10 years because of Wong's guilty plea, stating the penalty had to reflect the gravity of the crime.
In a statement written from prison, Wong said he believed at the time that he was acting within the law when he shared social media posts or called on foreign companies to halt business with Hong Kong police. He admitted his judgment was mistaken and noted that during nearly six years in custody, he took university courses and focused on self-improvement. Outside the courtroom, dozens of supporters had lined up for days to attend the hearing, and several broke into tears when the decision was announced.
Legal scholars and international observers argue the ruling underscores how broadly the 2020 national security law can be applied against political speech. Eric Lai, a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, observed that most of Wong's alleged actions involved public expression that would not be considered a national security threat in liberal democracies. Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities maintained that the law remains necessary to preserve stability following the widespread protests of 2019, and that all enforcement actions are grounded strictly in evidence.