Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) pleaded guilty to charges under Hong Kong’s national security legislation on Wednesday. Wong is facing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for “colluding with foreign forces,” charges brought against him last summer after he was already serving a prison term under a separate set of national security charges.
The case is the latest sign that Beijing intends to unflinchingly carry out its crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, a bustling financial hub whose democratic freedoms and independent legal system it once vowed to protect.
Wong’s plea appears to be part of an effort by his defense team to win their client a more lenient sentence.
Wong’s lawyer, Derek Chan (陳政龍), requested a prison term of less than 10 years. Chan argued that Wong’s guilty plea should allow his sentence to be cut in half, so that he would end up serving less than five additional years in prison.
Central to the defense’s argument is that Wong has matured since his days as a teenage leader of Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement, and later its 2019 pro-democracy protests. Chan said in court on Wednesday that Wong hoped to take care of his parents after being released from prison.
Wong has had a “lengthy opportunity to reflect” on his actions, Chan added. The Associated Press’s coverage of the plea hearing quoted two of Wong’s closest friends saying that he had used his time in prison to read books, study and learn guitar.
Wong, who will turn 30 next month, has been in prison since he was 24. He was sentenced to six years in 2021 on a separate set of national security charges.
The charges of “colluding with foreign forces” that Wong was arrested for last summer specifically referenced his contact with U.S. lawmakers, whom the Hong Kong authorities say Wong encouraged to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong.
The charges are the same as those brought against media mogul and fellow Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai (黎智英), whom a Hong Kong court sentenced to 20 years in prison in February. In his case, Lai pleaded not guilty.
Wong is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, second perhaps only to Lai.
“Beijing’s unjust prosecution of Joshua Wong is an appalling abuse of power,” former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi posted on X in response to Wong’s guilty plea. “Everyone who truly cares about democracy should be proud to stand with him and the people of Hong Kong. Advocacy for freedom is not a crime and the international community must immediately demand his release.”
Representative Ro Khanna, the Democrats’ ranking member on the U.S. House Select Committee on China, chimed in with his own X post on Thursday. “Joshua Wong was 17 when he was first arrested standing up for Hong Kong’s democracy,” he wrote. “Today, he was forced to plead guilty to baseless charges under China’s imposed draconian National Security Law. Democracy doesn’t have borders. We must protect Hong Kongers’ liberties.”
Following Wong’s guilty plea Wednesday, the Hong Kong judge said that a sentence would be handed down as soon as possible, without specifying a precise date.
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