Hong Kong Court Sentences Joshua Wong to 10 Years Under National Security Law
Hong Kong’s High Court on Thursday, Nov. 5, sentenced pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, 30, to 10 years in prison for violating the National Security Law. The Associated Press reported Wong pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to ask foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China.
Prosecutors said Wong conspired with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and others between July and November 2020 to ask foreign governments and organizations to impose sanctions, blockades and other hostile actions on Hong Kong and China. The National Security Law, imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in 2020, criminalizes collusion with foreign forces along with subversion, secession and terrorism.
Judge William Tam found Wong’s offense to be of a grave nature and called Wong a mastermind of the conspiracy. Tam set the starting point at 13 years and reduced it to 10 for the guilty plea and mitigation. Ten years is the minimum sentence under the National Security Law for an offense of a grave nature. The defense had asked for four and a half years, which was rejected.
Wong is already serving four years and eight months in a separate National Security Law case, a term that had been due to end in January 2027. Tam ordered the remaining roughly two months of that term to run concurrently with the new sentence.
Wong became a symbol of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement as a teenager leading student protests and was first imprisoned at 23. He has been in detention continuously since 2020 and is a co-founder of Demosisto, a political group that has since disbanded.
Reactions were split. The U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong said it strongly condemns the 10-year sentence, and the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China called for Wong’s unconditional release. Britain’s Foreign Office said the sentence was a clear example of the National Security Law being used to target political expression and participation. Amnesty International said the law has become a tool for punishing dissent.
The Hong Kong government took a different view. Chief Executive John Lee said Wong and Law committed extremely serious offenses that seriously undermined national sovereignty, security and development interests and directly harmed ordinary citizens’ welfare and social stability. The Chinese government warned other countries to stop making what it called irresponsible remarks about Wong’s trial.
It is not yet known whether Wong’s legal team will seek leave to appeal. Wong said in a mitigation letter that his activism never came from hatred, CNN reported.