HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court sentenced prominent activist Joshua Wong to 10 more years in prison Thursday under a Beijing-imposed national security law, in a case that critics say underscores the crackdown on the city’s once-thriving pro-democracy movement.
Wong, 30, had led protests as a student and engaged in international advocacy efforts for Hong Kong's democracy movement. He was already serving a four-year, eight-month prison term after pleading guilty in the city's biggest national security case linked to an unofficial primary election.
Some pro-democracy activists and supporters were in the public gallery of Hong Kong's High Court on Thursday to support Wong, who appeared in a dark shirt and dark-framed glasses. He appeared calm and nodded to his supporters.
He had expected to be freed in January 2027, but was charged in 2025 with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a national security offense under a law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
Judge William Tam said that Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law colluded with foreign officials and other foreign actors and sought measures against China and Hong Kong.
Tam pointed to the U.S. revocation of the city’s preferential treatment as a special administrative region and U.S. sanctions imposed on Chinese and Hong Kong officials, saying these were the kinds of sanctions or hostile measures Wong and Law had called for.
“The punishment must fit the gravity of the crime committed,” Tam wrote. “It is also necessary for this court to express the community’s abhorrence of the defendant’s scheme and acts together with others to collude with foreign forces.”
The United States strongly condemned the sentencing and called for Wong's immediate release.
The U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong said in a statement that Wong has been “unjustly imprisoned” since late 2020, showing that “Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate for fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong.”
Wong pleaded guilty to the offense earlier this year. Tam said he considered a 13-year prison sentence as a starting point but reduced it because of Wong’s guilty plea and mitigation.
Tam said Wong would serve the remaining two months of the sentence for his first national security conviction concurrently with the new sentence.
Wong looked calm during the sentencing
Wong stood as the reason for the sentence was read out by the judge, appearing serious but calm. Before leaving the courtroom, his supporters waved to him. “Thank you all,” he said to them in Cantonese.
Tiffany Chin, a former member of the now-disbanded Scholarism movement once led by Wong, was in tears after the sentence was delivered.
With limited seating available, some took turns entering the courtroom. Dozens had lined up outside the court to secure a seat in the public gallery, some as early as Tuesday. One resident, ET Wong, said Wong walked a difficult path for Hong Kong’s future, human rights and the student movement. “At least in my heart, he should not have spent a single day in wrongful imprisonment,” she said.
In a statement to media outlets, Wong said he thought he was acting within the law, but only later realized his judgment was wrong.
He said during his nearly six years in prison, he enrolled in university courses and read many books. He said he devoted himself to becoming a better person, and he hoped he’d be able to look back on this period as a trial that strengthened him.
Wong's convictions seen as discouraging dissent
Hong Kong once had a freewheeling civil society. But after an anti-government movement rocked the city in 2019, authorities reduced public choice in elections and arrested many leading activists. Some news outlets known for reporting critical of the government shut down and dozens of civil society groups dissolved.
Observers say Wong's sentencing shows the authorities' determination to keep prominent activists in prison for as long as possible, further chilling civic activism.
Eric Lai, a research fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the national security law charges “can be repeatedly weaponized to keep a specific political prisoner in jail, if the government deems necessary.”
Beijing views Wong as an anti-China figure supporting Hong Kong independence, a stance that crosses its red line. Hong Kong authorities argue the security law is crucial for the city’s stability following the 2019 protests, maintaining that the city's law enforcement actions were evidence-based.
Prosecution highlights Wong’s lobbying and advocacy efforts
The prosecution alleged that Wong and Law had agreed in or around 2016 to lobby internationally to achieve their goal of democratic self-determination.
After the security law was enacted, Law, who left for the U.K., and others advanced their work abroad by meeting foreign politicians and launching petition drives, it said. Wong supported the effort from Hong Kong through foreign media outlets and social media to draw foreign countries’ attention and bolster the request for sanctions, a blockade or other hostile measures against China and Hong Kong, it said.
Wong's lawyer Derek Chan had urged the court to impose a sentence that would give his client some hope, adding that Wong wishes to take care of his parents after his release.
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities defend the ruling
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing that Wong had pleaded guilty in the face of overwhelming facts and evidence and that the central government supports Hong Kong in upholding national security.
He said “relevant parties” should stop making irresponsible remarks about the city's judicial proceedings and stop interfering in its judiciary.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said Wong, Law and their accomplices are among the “primary culprits responsible for undermining Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.”
Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police’s national security department, welcomed the court's ruling and said he hoped Wong would reflect on his wrongdoing and seize the opportunity to cultivate a law-abiding spirit and come to properly understand his country.
To his supporters, 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.
Despite being held behind bars, Wong's influence appears to have remained a concern, at least for the pro-Beijing camp.
In September, a pro-Beijing newspaper report criticized a 2017 documentary about Wong on Netflix for “beautifying” his crimes. The city’s security bureau told local media the government was taking follow-up action.
The documentary then topped Netflix’s most-watched list in Hong Kong.
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