Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong pleads guilty to collusion with foreign entities

PRISONER. A prison van, believed to be carrying jailed pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, arrives at the High Court for a national security plea and sentencing hearing, in Hong Kong, China, September 2, 2026.

Tyrone Siu/REUTERS

Wong, 29, rose to international prominence as a teenage democracy activist in Hong Kong, one of a group of youngsters whose protest efforts have now effectively been outlawed by a sweeping National Security Law that Beijing imposed in 2020

AT A GLANCE

• Joshua Wong, a prominent Hong Kong democracy activist, pleaded guilty to collusion with foreign entities under the National Security Law, which could result in a life sentence.
• Wong, who gained fame as a teenage activist, is already serving time for a previous national security charge and is accused of conspiring to solicit foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and China.
• His case is part of a broader crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, which has drawn criticism from international human rights groups and Western nations.

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HONG KONG – Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong pleaded guilty on Wednesday< September 2, to a charge of collusion with foreign entities, a national security crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Wong, 29, rose to international prominence as a teenage democracy activist in Hong Kong, one of a group of youngsters whose protest efforts have now effectively been outlawed by a sweeping National Security Law that Beijing imposed on the Asian financial hub in 2020.

Wearing a dark blue shirt and black-rimmed glasses, Wong waved and nodded to people from the court’s dock, inhaling deeply at times, before pleading guilty to a government-approved national security judge at Hong Kong’s High Court in the district of Admiralty.

Several Western diplomats attended the hearing.

The prosecution highlighted what it said was an international media and political campaign by Demosisto, a now-disbanded political party that once backed a referendum on Hong Kong’s sovereignty and counted Wong as one of its leaders, that sought to bring sanctions on Hong Kong and China in 2019 and 2020.

Wong is already in jail serving an existing sentence on an earlier national security charge of conspiracy to commit subversion after he was among a group of democratic activists who participated in an unofficial primary election in 2020. His current sentence is scheduled to end next year.

A charge sheet seen earlier by Reuters accused Wong of having conspired with exiled activist Nathan Law and others to ask foreign countries, institutions, organizations, or individuals outside China to impose sanctions or blockades.

Such actions against Hong Kong or China, along with other hostile activities targeting them, took place in 2020, between July 1 and November 23, it added.

Wong’s case and others are being closely watched by international human rights groups and some Western countries tracking the implementation of the National Security Law.

His case comes after two other activists were found guilty of inciting subversion last month after they used the phrase “end one-party dictatorship” in their political activities.

Lee Cheuk-yan, ‌69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were part of a group known for organizing annual vigils marking Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Hong Kong’s National Security Law was passed on June 30, 2020, in part as a response to months of sometimes-violent pro-democracy protests that roiled the city in 2019.

While international human rights groups and Western countries criticized the law as excessive given the high degree of autonomy Hong Kong was promised following its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong and Chinese officials said it was vital to restore stability. – Rappler.com