On November 5, 2026, Hong Kong's High Court sentenced 30-year-old pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong to 10 years in prison for conspiring to collude with foreign forces. Judge William Tam reduced an initial 13-year term following Wong's guilty plea. The sentence runs concurrently with Wong's prior subversion term, extending his imprisonment past his expected January 2027 release. The ruling drew sharp condemnation from the U.S. and rights groups, while Beijing warned against interference.
Joshua Wong's sentencing and prison terms
- ▪High Court Judge William Tam ruled that Joshua Wong's 10-year sentence will run concurrently with the remaining term of his previous 4-year and 8-month subversion sentence from Hong Kong's 2020 primary election case
- ▪Judge William Tam sentenced Joshua Wong to 10 years for conspiring to collude with foreign forces
- ▪Prior to his November 5, 2026 sentencing, Joshua Wong had been incarcerated since 2020 and was scheduled for release in January 2027
Allegations and evidence of collusion
- ▪Prosecutors accused Joshua Wong of conspiring with exiled activist Nathan Law to lobby foreign governments, including the United States, for sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials
- ▪High Court Judge William Tam designated Joshua Wong's foreign collusion offense as grave, citing social media campaigns and a trip to the US before the 2020 National Security Law
Official responses to the sentencing
- ▪Chief Superintendent Steve Li of the Hong Kong police National Security Department defended Joshua Wong's 10-year sentence, stating it proved efforts to solicit foreign sanctions were futile
- ▪China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun urged foreign parties to respect Chinese sovereignty and stop making irresponsible remarks regarding Hong Kong's judicial proceedings against Joshua Wong
International condemnation of the sentence
- ▪The United States Consulate in Hong Kong strongly condemned Joshua Wong's 10-year prison sentence on November 5, 2026, and called for his immediate release
- ▪United States Representative John Moolenaar described the foreign collusion charges against Joshua Wong as baseless and urged his immediate release
- ▪Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch criticized Joshua Wong's 10-year sentence, characterizing Hong Kong's National Security Law as a tool used by authorities to punish political dissent
Legal actions under the national security law
- ▪China's government imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong on June 30, 2020, following mass anti-government protests across the city in 2019
- ▪In 2024, Joshua Wong and dozens of opposition figures were sentenced in Hong Kong's largest national security trial, involving an unofficial 2020 pro-democracy primary election
- ▪Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai received a 20-year prison sentence in February 2026 under Hong Kong's Beijing-imposed National Security Law
- ▪Hong Kong national security police issued a cash bounty for exiled activist Nathan Law, who remains wanted alongside dozens of overseas democracy campaigners
Joshua Wong's early political activism
- ▪At age 15 in 2012, Joshua Wong led a campaign that forced Hong Kong officials to shelve a proposed pro-China national education curriculum
- ▪In 2014, Joshua Wong emerged as a key figure in Hong Kong's 79-day Umbrella Movement protests advocating for democratic political reform and direct election of the city's leader
- ▪In 2016, Joshua Wong co-founded the pro-democracy political party Demosisto, which advocated for Hong Kong's self-determination until disbanding after Beijing's enactment of the 2020 National Security Law
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