Joshua Wong, one of the most well-known democracy activists in Hong Kong, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 additional years in prison for collaborating with foreign powers. This sentence was issued following new charges brought against him in June 2025. The court stated that "the final sentence of 10 years in prison" has been imposed on Wong.
Wong's Legal Background
Wong, who gained global fame during the major protests in the Chinese territory, has spent nearly six years in prison and turned 30 last month. He had expected to be released next January after serving four years and eight months for "violating" the national security law. However, Hong Kong authorities used the same law to charge him again, and he confessed to this charge in September.
Reactions to the New Sentence
After the sentence was issued, Wong calmly entered the courtroom and nodded to his supporters who were present there. His supporters shouted, "We will wait for your freedom." Outside the courthouse, police were heavily deployed. Steve Tsang, director of the Chinese SOAS Institute in London, stated, "Beijing has identified Wong as one of the key leaders of what it sees as an open rebellion in 2019 - despite Wong being one of the more moderate figures - and he will be made an example of." Human rights groups have also criticized this charge as a deliberate attempt to keep Wong in prison.
Wong rose to prominence during the Umbrella Movement protests in 2014 and has been imprisoned multiple times since then due to protest-related cases. He began international lobbying in 2016 and traveled to the United States in 2019 as part of a delegation to lobby for the passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. This act was eventually passed.
The following year, Beijing imposed sweeping national security laws on Hong Kong, leading to the dissolution of opposition groups and the flight of activists. Wong is one of dozens of pro-democracy figures who were imprisoned in 2024 for "violating" these laws. While some of his co-defendants have been released, Wong is the only one who has been charged again under this law.
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