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Archive photo · 15 April 2026Hong Kong High Court Sentences Joshua Wong To 10 Years For Colluding With Foreign Forces
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Hong Kong High Court sentences Joshua Wong to 10 years for colluding with foreign forces. This is Wong’s second conviction under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
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Wong gets 10 years
Hong Kong’s High Court sentenced Joshua Wong to ten years in prison for conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, in his second conviction under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020. Judge William Tam told a packed courtroom that “The punishment must fit the gravity of the crime,” as he delivered the sentence on Thursday. Wong, now 30, pleaded guilty in September and received the verdict at the Hong Kong High Court, according to local outlets including Hong Kong Free Press.
The court found Wong guilty of colluding with foreign entities in violation of the city’s national security law, and it described the offense as of a grave nature. The sentence came as Wong was already serving a four-year, eight-month prison term for the “47-person primary election case,” and he had been expected to be released in January 2027.
Deterrence and condemnation
Judge William Tam wrote that it was “also necessary for the court to express the community’s abhorrence of the defendant’s scheme,” and he said the ruling served the imperative of general deterrence. Wong’s supporters and critics framed the case differently, with Human Rights Watch calling the sentence “cruel and unjust” and saying the Hong Kong government puts young people “behind bars.” The United States consulate in Hong Kong said it “strongly condemns” the additional sentence and called for Wong’s “immediate release,” while Taiwan’s top China policy body denounced “endless political persecution.”
Wong looked calm and thanked his supporters before leaving the court, and Tiffany Chin, a former member of the now-disbanded Scholarism, was in tears. Wong wrote in prison that his political participation was never driven by hatred and that he bears no resentment toward the Chinese or Hong Kong governments, adding that he never advocated Hong Kong independence.
Release pushed to 2036
Judge William Tam reduced the starting point of a 13-year prison sentence to 10 because of Wong’s guilty plea and mitigation, and the ruling ordered the new term to run concurrently with the remaining two months of his existing sentence. The BBC said the newly added 10-year term includes two months and two days served concurrently with the 47-person case, and it anticipated Wong would serve until 2036, when he will be around 40. Hong Kong Free Press said the sentence will run concurrently with the remaining two months of his four-year, eight-month “Hong Kong 47” term, meaning Wong is likely to remain behind bars until 2036 unless he receives sentence remission.
The Hong Kong government welcomed the heavier sentence, while Amnesty International criticized the timing and said the new conviction came only months before Wong was due for release on his original sentence. The Hong Kong Democracy Council said the sentence “seeks to make his example of civic courage a warning about the personal cost of speaking out,” as Wong’s case further constrained his ability to re-enter public life.
