Wong gets decade for foreign collusion

A Hong Kong court imposed a 10-year prison sentence on Joshua Wong on Thursday. The verdict stems from a 2025 charge of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the national security law Beijing introduced in 2020.

Wong, 30, had been serving a four-year, eight-month term for an earlier national security conviction. He was expected to be released in January 2027. Judge William Tam stated that Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law sought hostile measures against China and Hong Kong. Tam specifically cited U.S. sanctions on local officials and the revocation of the city's preferential trade status as examples of the actions Wong and Law had advocated.

The judge wrote that the punishment must match the gravity of the crime. He noted the court needed to express the community's abhorrence of the defendants' scheme to collude with foreign entities. Tam considered a 13-year starting point but reduced the term due to Wong's guilty plea and other mitigating factors. Wong will serve the remaining two months of his first sentence concurrently with the new term.

Wong appeared in a dark shirt and dark-framed glasses at the High Court. He stood during the sentencing and remained calm. He nodded to supporters in the gallery and told them, "Thank you all," in Cantonese. Tiffany Chin, a former member of the Scholarism movement, cried after the sentence was read. Dozens of people had lined up outside the court as early as Tuesday to secure seats in the gallery.

Wong released a statement saying he believed he was acting within the law but later realized his judgment was wrong. He said he used his nearly six years in prison to enroll in university courses and read books. He described the period as a trial that strengthened him.

The United States condemned the ruling. A U.S. Consulate statement in Hong Kong called Wong "unjustly imprisoned" since late 2020. The statement argued the sentence shows Beijing will use extraordinary lengths to silence advocates for fundamental freedoms.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Wong pleaded guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence. He urged outside parties to stop interfering in the city's judiciary. Hong Kong leader John Lee called Wong and Law primary culprits in undermining the city's stability. Police chief superintendent Steve Li said he hoped Wong would reflect on his wrongdoing and understand his country.

Prosecutors alleged Wong and Law agreed around 2016 to lobby for democratic self-determination. After the 2020 law, Law worked from the United Kingdom while Wong used media and social platforms from Hong Kong to draw foreign attention to their cause. A pro-Beijing newspaper recently criticized a 2017 Netflix documentary about Wong for beautifying his crimes. The security bureau said it was taking follow-up action after the film topped local viewing lists.