Joshua Wong Sentenced to Decade in Hong Kong Prison

Joshua Wong will spend the next ten years behind bars in Hong Kong. A judge handed down the sentence on Thursday for his second conviction under the city's national security law. This ruling extends his time in prison beyond what he would have served under his previous sentence alone.

Wong, 30, pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. Prosecutors charged him in 2025 with this offense. The court accepted his plea, which typically lowers the potential penalty. Judge William Tam stated that the offense was of a grave nature. He rejected the argument that Wong played a limited role in the plot.

The judge started with a 13-year sentence before reducing it because of the guilty plea. Tam noted that Wong could serve his new sentence concurrently with his existing term. Wong is already serving four years and eight months for the city's largest national security case linked to an unofficial primary. He had been expected to be released in January 2027 under that previous conviction.

Wong appeared calm as he left the court. He thanked his supporters before departing. Tiffany Chin, a former member of Scholarism, a group Wong once led, was in tears. Other supporters waved to him. The now-disbanded group had been a central part of the student movement Wong helped lead.

Resident ET Wong spoke to the press about the former student leader. She said Wong possessed big-picture thinking as a teenager that many adults lack. She described his path as difficult, focused on Hong Kong's future, human rights, and the student movement. In her view, Wong should not have spent a single day in wrongful imprisonment.

Eric Lai, a research fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, offered a different perspective on the legal strategy. He said the national security law charges can be repeatedly weaponized to keep a specific political prisoner in jail if the government deems it necessary. Lai noted that the sentencing shows authorities' determination to keep prominent activists detained for long periods. This approach aims to chill civic activism in the city.

Beijing views Wong as an anti-China figure who supports Hong Kong independence. Authorities maintain that the security law is crucial for the city's stability after the 2019 protests. They state that law enforcement actions are evidence-based. The prosecution alleged that Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law agreed around 2016 to lobby internationally for democratic self-determination. They pointed to Wong's meetings with U.S. politicians Nancy Pelosi and Marco Rubio in 2016 and 2019 as evidence of this effort.

Wong's lawyer, Derek Chan, asked the court to give his client some hope. Chan said Wong wishes to care for his parents after his release. Friends said Wong kept reading, exercising, and teaching himself guitar during his nearly six years in prison. 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. The documentary subsequently rose to the top of Netflix's popular chart in Hong Kong.