Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong pleaded guilty in September to foreign collusion after prosecutors accused him of urging overseas entities to sanction local and mainland Chinese officials. He was originally slated for release in January following a four-year and eight-month term for subversion, but prosecutors filed the new indictment in June 2025. While Wong's defense attorney has argued for a reduced sentence of three to 10 years, a judicial finding that the offense is of a grave nature mandates a minimum 10-year term up to life imprisonment.
Key points
A judicial ruling deeming the collusion offense to be of a grave nature would trigger a m…: A judicial ruling deeming the collusion offense to be of a grave nature would trigger a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.
Prosecutors built the collusion case around Wong's lobbying for the United States' Hong K…: Prosecutors built the collusion case around Wong's lobbying for the United States' Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.
Rights organizations have criticized the government's additional charges as a deliberate…: Rights organizations have criticized the government's additional charges as a deliberate legal tactic to prolong the activist's confinement.
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HONG KONG: One of Hong Kong's best-known democracy activists, Joshua Wong, will be sentenced on Thursday (Nov 5) for the national security crime of "foreign collusion", which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Wong, once a figurehead of youthful dissent in the Chinese city, has spent almost six years in jail and turned 30 behind bars last month.
The former student leader was previously expected to be freed in January, upon completion of a jail term of four years and eight months for "subversion" under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
But Hong Kong authorities used the same law to charge Wong again in June 2025, accusing him of asking other countries and entities to impose sanctions against the finance hub and China.
Wong pleaded guilty in September, a move that typically results in a reduced sentence.
He will be sentenced at a hearing scheduled for 9.30am on Thursday, according to the Hong Kong judiciary website.
The judge is expected to decide if Wong's offence is of a "grave nature", and if so, the security law mandates a prison stint…
The 30-year-old pro-democracy figure faces up to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to urging overseas entities to penalize Beijing and local officials. Having already spent nearly six years behind bars, he is the sole defendant from the city's largest national security trial to be prosecuted a second time under the statute. This latest legal action effectively halted his planned release and drew sharp condemnation from human rights organizations.
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