Jailed activist Joshua Wong to plead guilty, face second national security jail term in September

Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong is set to plead guilty and face sentencing for a foreign collusion charge in September, marking his second conviction under the national security law.

Joshua Wong, former secretary general of the now-disbanded political group Demosisto. Photo: Etan Liam, via Flickr.

Wong is slated to appear at the High Court on September 2, according to the Judiciary’s court diary. The diary states he will sit for a plea and sentence hearing, indicating that Wong will plead guilty.

The September hearing is scheduled to take one day. The Judiciary is yet to announce which judge will preside over the case.

The activist is already in jail for his first national security conviction, which was for the 47 democrats case. He had been expected to be released from prison in 2027 after serving his term.

The September sentencing will be for a charge of conspiring to commit foreign collusion under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

Nathan Law. Photo: Karen Cheung/HKFP.

He is accused of conspiring with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and “other persons unknown” between July 1 and November 23, 2020, to request foreign countries, organisations, or individuals based overseas to impose sanctions, blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.

Law moved to the UK in 2020 after the enactment of the security law. In 2023, the government issued an arrest warrants for him.

He and Wong, along with other former student activists, co-founded pro-democracy political party Demosisto. The party disbanded hours after the national security law came into effect on June 30, 2020.

Second national security charge

Wong is currently serving a four-year-and-eight-month sentence for his involvement in another national security case relating to election primaries in 2020.

The High Court. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The 29-year-old was arrested in prison last June for the new offence. He was brought to court the same day and charged with conspiring to collude with foreign forces.

The case was transferred from the magistracy, the lowest level court, to the High Court in mid-May.

Conspiring to collude with foreign forces is punishable by a jail term of no less than three years and not more than 10 years.

In February, pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for two counts of the offence and a sedition charge. He pleaded not guilty.