Joshua Wong pleads guilty to foreign collusion charge

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has pleaded guilty to foreign collusion, a national security charge that could extend his time in prison and, in the most serious cases, carries a possible life sentence.

Wong, 29, entered the plea in Hong Kong’s High Court in Admiralty in a second case brought under Beijing’s National Security Law. He is already serving a sentence of four years and eight months after being convicted of subversion in late 2024, another offence under the same law. His earlier prison term is due to end early next year.

The court said Wong would be sentenced later. Al Jazeera reported that the judge said the sentence would be decided “as soon as possible” but did not give a date.

The latest charge accuses Wong of conspiring with other campaigners, including exiled activist Nathan Law, to ask foreign countries and entities outside China to impose sanctions or blockades against Beijing. The alleged activities took place between July and late November 2020, the court heard. That was the year Beijing imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong.

The offence is punishable by three to 10 years in prison, or up to life imprisonment if it is deemed to be “of a grave nature,” Al Jazeera reported.

Wong became one of the most visible figures in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement during the 2014 Umbrella Movement and later during the mass protests of 2019. He and Law were among the founders of Demosisto, a pro-democracy party launched in April 2016. The party disbanded in 2020 on the same day the National Security Law took effect.

Prosecutors said Wong and Law took part in “international lobbying on numerous occasions,” including visits to the United States, Germany and Italy. They also accused Wong and Law of promoting the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a U.S. federal law enacted in November 2019 during Donald Trump’s first administration. The law requires the U.S. government to impose sanctions on mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong.

Al Jazeera reported that prosecutors also said Wong wrote for newspapers, spoke to media outlets to call for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong after the security law took effect, and met foreign politicians including former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

After the charges were read to him, Wong stood and told the judge loudly, “Confirm,” Al Jazeera reported. The BBC reported that Wong, wearing a dark blue shirt and dark-rimmed glasses, did not dispute the allegations.

About 40 supporters, including fellow activists and close friends, gathered in court, the BBC reported. Some shouted, “Hang in there, Joshua!” Wong 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 spent more than 2,000 days in prison. Fellow activist Louis Lee said Wong and his supporters were disheartened that he had been handed another National Security Law charge while already serving time.

Wong has continued to seek new interests in prison, including learning guitar and working out, Lee said. “I hope everyone can learn from him,” he said.

Critics say the National Security Law has created a climate of fear and quashed dissent in Hong Kong. Beijing and Hong Kong authorities say it is necessary to maintain stability and deny that it has weakened the city’s autonomy.

Wong’s plea follows the convictions last month of activists Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, who were found guilty of inciting subversion after using the phrase “end one-party dictatorship” in their political activities. They were part of a group known for organising annual vigils marking Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.