Hong Kong’s High Court sentenced pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong to 10 years in prison on November 5, 2026, for conspiring to work with foreign forces, extending his imprisonment in a second national-security case.
Wong, 30, pleaded guilty in September to the charge. The charge concerned alleged efforts by Wong, exiled activist Nathan Law and others to seek foreign sanctions and other measures against Hong Kong and China. Judge William Tam called the offense “grave” and set a starting point of 13 years.
He then reduced the sentence to 10 years after considering Wong’s guilty plea and other circumstances that favored a shorter sentence. Wong was already serving a four-year-and-eight-month sentence in the “Hong Kong 47” case, which involved a pro-democracy primary election and a charge of undermining state power. The judge ordered two months and two days of the new sentence to be served at the same time as the rest of Wong’s current term.
He is therefore expected to remain in prison until late 2036 unless his sentence changes. Wong had been due for release in January 2027. The court’s ruling drew criticism from rights advocates and foreign governments.
They said the case reflects the use of the national-security law to silence dissent. Wong became known as a teenager during Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement. He later became one of the city’s most prominent pro-democracy figures.