Joshua Wong admits instigating sanctions against Beijing, Hong Kong governments

Jailed Hong Kong opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has admitted instigating international sanctions against central and local authorities six years ago, such as urging foreign businesses to avoid investment in mainland China and petitioning an Israeli forensic tech firm to terminate its services for the city’s police force.

The High Court heard on Wednesday that Wong, 29, had conspired with fugitive ex-lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung, 33, and others to garner international support for their resistance campaign aimed at forcing Beijing to repeal the national security law and grant Hongkongers greater political freedom.

Wong pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces before Mr Justice William Tam Yiu-ho, a former leading prosecutor who oversaw prosecutions of anti-government protesters in the aftermath of the 2019 social unrest.

The activist is set to face additional years behind bars, having been sentenced to four years and eight months’ imprisonment for conspiring to subvert state power through his participation in an unofficial legislative primary election in July 2020.

A prosecution summary said Wong and Law - who were the secretary general and founding chairman of the now-defunct political group Demosisto, respectively - plotted to seek foreign intervention in Hong Kong affairs as early as 2016 in pursuit of the city’s self-determination.

Wong visited the United States in November 2016 to drum up support for the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would allow the country’s president to punish Hong Kong and mainland officials for suppressing basic freedoms in the city.