Jailed Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong pleads guilty to foreign collusion
Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s most recognizable pro-democracy figures, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to collusion with foreign entities, an offense under Beijing’s national security legislation that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The 29-year-old activist is already serving a four-year, eight-month sentence for subversion, another violation of the law. He was convicted in late 2024, and that earlier term was due to end early next year.
According to charge sheets reviewed by Reuters, Wong and other campaigners, including exiled activist Nathan Law, conspired between July and late November 2020 to ask foreign countries and entities outside China to impose sanctions or blockades against Beijing.
The alleged conduct came in the same year Beijing introduced the National Security Law in Hong Kong, a statute that critics say has created a climate of fear and quashed dissent in the city. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities reject that view, arguing the law is needed to preserve stability and insisting it has not eroded Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Wong first rose to prominence as a leader of the 2014 Umbrella Movement and later became a central figure in the massive pro-democracy protests of 2019. His latest plea makes him one of the highest-profile activists to be prosecuted under a law that has reshaped Hong Kong’s political landscape.
In court on Tuesday, about 40 supporters, including close friends and fellow activists, gathered for the hearing. Some called out, “Hang in there, Joshua!” Wong, dressed in a dark blue shirt, smiled and nodded from the dock.
Tsang Kin-shing, a former member of the now-dissolved League of Social Democrats, said he hoped the court would impose a lenient sentence, noting that Wong has now spent more than 2,000 days in prison. Fellow activist Louis Lee said Wong and his supporters were disheartened by the decision to bring another national security charge while he was already behind bars.
Wong has continued to find new interests while in prison, including learning to play the guitar and working out. “I hope everyone can learn from him,” Lee said.
The guilty plea adds another chapter to a case that has come to symbolize the reach of the National Security Law. Once a fixture of Hong Kong’s streets, Wong now faces a legal process that could result in a life sentence.