By Islam El-Sakka
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to "foreign collusion", marking his second conviction under the city's national security law.
Second conviction under security law
High Court Judge William Tam described the 30-year-old's actions as "grave in nature", noting that Wong had visited the United States to seek foreign interference before the law's 2020 enactment and continued to share social media posts by exiled activist Nathan Law calling for sanctions afterward.
Concurrent sentences
The sentence will run concurrently with the remainder of a previous four-year, eight-month term imposed in November 2024 for conspiracy to commit subversion related to an unofficial primary election. Wong has been detained since 2020 and was due for release in January 2027.
From Umbrella protests to imprisonment
Wong rose to prominence as a teenage leader of the 2014 Umbrella protests that paralyzed Hong Kong's financial district. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine as "The Face of Protest" and was imprisoned during the 2019 anti-extradition bill demonstrations.
National security law context
Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law in 2020, citing a need to restore stability, while critics say it has been used to target political opposition, dissolve civil society groups, and silence independent media.
