Joshua Wong, former secretary-general of Demosisto in Hong Kong, China, was sentenced by the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on November 5 to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security.
Wong’s case stems from his longstanding involvement in Hong Kong SAR political activities and overseas lobbying. In 2016, he co-founded Demosisto with Nathan Law and others, advocating democratic self-determination for Hong Kong. Following the large-scale social protests in Hong Kong in 2019, related political activities extended further overseas.
The prosecution alleged that between July 1 and November 23, 2020, after Hong Kong’s National Security Law took effect, Wong continued to conspire with the self-exiled Nathan Law and others to lobby foreign governments, organisations and individuals to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures against China and the Hong Kong SAR. Those activities included contacting foreign political figures, promoting sanctions initiatives and expanding their influence through social media and overseas news outlets.
The court adopted a sentencing starting point of 13 years, ultimately reducing the term to 10 years after considering Wong’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors.
Wong had already been sentenced to four years and eight months in the Hong Kong 47 primary-election case and remained in custody. Two months and two days of the new sentence will run concurrently with his existing term, so the terms are not simply added in full. Under these sentencing arrangements, he is expected to have a prospect of release around 2036, when he would be about 40.
The Hong Kong SAR police’s National Security Department welcomed the sentence, while some international human rights organisations criticised it.
