Hong Kong’s high court heard Joshua Wong, 29, plead guilty on Wednesday to a national security charge of conspiring to seek foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and China. Prosecutors allege Wong collaborated with exiled activist Nathan Law to lobby foreign governments for sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures. The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, though a guilty plea may lead to a reduced term.
Wong, who has been in custody continuously since November 2020, has spent nearly six years in detention and was originally due for release in January 2027. He previously pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to commit subversion for his role in an unofficial primary election and was sentenced in November 2024 to four years and eight months. The court heard that he travelled abroad and met foreign politicians, posting details of the meetings on social media, in an effort to promote sanctions after the 2020 national security law took effect.
Outside the courtroom, supporters queued overnight. One attendee, who asked to remain anonymous, described the trial as taking place under a “compromised judicial system” with no space for a fair trial. Human Rights Watch and the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation condemned the case, saying the repeated charges aim to keep Wong incarcerated and silence dissent.
Wong first rose to prominence as a teenage leader of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, later appearing on the cover of Time magazine as “The Face of Protest.” He was released from prison during the 2019 anti‑extradition bill protests and rejoined the demonstrations. He remains the only Hong Kong activist prosecuted twice under the national security law, a fact that has drawn criticism from international observers, including former UK Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, who urged the British government to raise the matter with Beijing.
