Joshua Wong jailed for ten years under Hong Kong security law
Joshua Wong, the face of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, was sentenced on Thursday to ten years in prison for colluding with foreign forces under the national security law. Judge William Tam called him “a mastermind of the conspiracy” and reduced a 13-year starting point for his guilty plea. Mr Wong, who turned 30 last month, has spent almost six years in detention and had been due for release in January.
The charge concerned a conspiracy with the exiled activist Nathan Law to lobby for foreign sanctions and blockades against Beijing between July and November 2020; Mr Wong, the only Hong Kong activist prosecuted twice under the law, pleaded guilty in September. He was already serving four years and eight months for his part in the “Hong Kong 47” primary case. In a statement from prison he said he had never been “driven by hatred” and had “never advocated Hong Kong independence”. The chief executive, John Lee, called Mr Wong and Mr Law “among the primary culprits responsible for undermining Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability”; the US consulate said it “strongly condemns” the sentence and Human Rights Watch called it “cruel and unjust”. Beijing told critics to “stop making irresponsible remarks”. Only the media tycoon Jimmy Lai, jailed for 20 years, has received a longer sentence under the law. Mr Wong founded Scholarism at 14, became the face of the 2014 Umbrella Movement and appeared on the cover of Time.