Who is Joshua Wong? Why a Hong Kong activist got another 10 years in prison and what he is accused of

Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to another 10 years in prison on Thursday in Chinese territory. Human Rights Watch said Thursday that Wong has been in custody since November 2020, when he was 23, and faces prison until the end of 2036, when he will be 40.

Wong potentially faced life in prison because his offense was considered “serious,” Judge William Tam was quoted as saying by AFP.

The US consulate in Hong Kong said Thursday that it “strongly condemns” the additional 10-year prison sentence given to pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong.

“The United States strongly condemns the Hong Kong Supreme Court’s sentencing of Joshua Wong to an additional 10 years in prison and calls for his immediate release,” a consulate spokesman said in a statement to AFP.

Who is Joshua Wong? What crime did he commit?

Joshua Wong is a prominent pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong. He came to prominence during the 2014 protests in Hong Kong known as the Umbrella Movement, and has been in and out of prison since 2017.

He was among dozens of pro-democracy figures jailed for “subversion” in 2024, Hong Kong’s biggest national security trial. Some of them have since been released.

According to the Associated Press, Beijing sees Wong as an anti-China figure supporting Hong Kong independence, a stance that crosses its red line.

Authorities said Wong began international lobbying as early as 2016, when he pushed through a bill — the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act — that would have allowed the US president to impose sanctions in response to rights abuses in the city.

The prosecution alleged that Wong agreed to international lobbying to achieve his goal of democratic self-determination. “Following the passage of the Security Act, Law and others advanced their work abroad by meeting with foreign politicians and launching petition drives,” it said.

During the massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, Wong was part of a delegation to the United States to lobby for a bill that eventually passed.

The following year, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong that effectively clamped down on dissent, prompting opposition groups to disband and activists to flee the city.

At the time, Wong vowed to “continue to defend my home – Hong Kong – until I am silenced”.

Hong Kong authorities have said the security law is critical to the city’s stability following the 2019 protests and say the city’s law enforcement actions were based on evidence.

In September, a pro-Beijing newspaper report criticized a 2017 Netflix documentary about Wong for “glamourizing” his crimes. The city’s security bureau told local media that the government was taking follow-up measures.

But the documentary then shot to the top of the popular Netflix chart in Hong Kong.

Wong sentenced to 10 years: What is it about?

Wong was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday after being convicted of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under Beijing’s national security legislation.

Critics say the case highlights the city’s ongoing crackdown on dissent.

The 30-year-old activist was charged in 2025 under the National Security Act and pleaded guilty in September. A guilty plea usually allows for a reduced sentence.

In the latest ruling, Judge William Tam said Wong’s offending was “serious” and rejected arguments that his role in the alleged conspiracy was limited.

The judge said he had considered a 13-year sentence as a starting point, but reduced it in light of Wong’s guilty plea.

According to AFP, a court on Thursday described Wong and classmate Nathan Law – in self-imposed exile and wanted by authorities – as “the two main leaders or masterminds” of the plot to threaten national security.

There, he pointed to the U.S. revocation of the city’s differential treatment as a special administrative region and sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials, saying these were the kind of sanctions or hostile measures that Wong and Law had called for.

“The punishment must correspond to the seriousness of the crime committed,” Tam wrote, according to the Associated Press.

He added: “It is also necessary for this court to express society’s opposition to the defendant’s scheme and to act in concert with others to collude with foreign forces…and to serve the imperative of general deterrence.”

Wong was due out in January 2027

Wong, who turned 30 last month, is already serving four years and eight months in prison in connection with Hong Kong’s biggest national security case, involving an unofficial primary election organized by pro-democracy activists.

The former student leader, who was due to be released in January 2027 before his final sentencing, has only about two months left on his earlier sentence.

Hong Kong authorities used the same law to re-indict Wong in June last year, accusing him of colluding with other countries and entities to impose sanctions on the financial center and China.

The court ruled that both sentences can run concurrently. According to reports, Tam said Wong will serve the remaining two months of his sentence for his first national security conviction concurrently with the new sentence.

Wong, who rose to international fame during the “Umbrella Movement” that swept Hong Kong in 2014, has already spent almost six years behind bars and is now not due to be released until the end of 2036.

Wong: “He never advocated Hong Kong independence”

In a statement obtained by The Associated Press, Wong wrote in prison that his political participation has never been driven by hatred and holds no grudge against the Chinese or Hong Kong government, adding that he has never advocated Hong Kong independence.

He said he thought he was acting within the law, but only later realized his judgment was incorrect.

He said he enrolled in university courses and read hundreds of books during his nearly six years in prison.

He said he had dedicated himself to becoming a more responsible and compassionate person and hoped he could look back on this period as a test that made him stronger.