Joshua Wong pleads guilty in Hong Kong foreign collusion case

Hongkong,UPDATED: Sep 2, 2026 08:32 IST

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security under a Beijing-imposed law that has effectively stifled the city’s once-thriving pro-democracy movement. Wong, 29, faces up to life in prison and is expected to be sentenced later.

This is the second time Wong, a former student leader in the pro-democracy movement, has been prosecuted under the national security law introduced in Hong Kong in 2020 after massive anti-government protests the previous year. He is already serving a prison term of four years and eight months after pleading guilty in a separate national security case linked to an unofficial primary, and a guilty plea could typically result in a reduced sentence.

Wong was accused of conspiring with fellow activist Nathan Law and others to ask foreign countries, or institutions, organisations or individuals outside China, to impose sanctions, blockades or engage in other hostile actions against Hong Kong or China between July 1 and November 23, 2020. The offence is punishable by three to 10 years in prison, or up to life imprisonment if it is deemed to be ‘of a grave nature’.

Before he was arrested in June 2025 in the collusion-related case, Wong had been expected to be freed in January next year. Critics say the case shows the authorities’ determination to silence prominent dissidents, creating a chilling effect on civic activism. Beijing, however, sees Wong as an anti-China figure who supports Hong Kong independence, which is a red line for the authorities.

Wong first rose to prominence in 2012 as a high school student leading protests against the introduction of national education in schools. He later gained wider international attention as a student leader of the 2014 Occupy Movement. In 2016, he co-founded the political party Demosisto with other young activists, including Law, who became the city’s youngest lawmaker that year.

During the leaderless protests in 2019, Wong helped seek overseas support for the democracy movement, including from the US. Beijing criticised his actions at the time, saying he ‘begged for interference’ by foreign countries. Demosisto disbanded after Beijing imposed the security law in 2020, which authorities said was necessary for the city’s stability.

Many other leading activists have also been jailed under the same law, including former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, while some activists fled to democratic countries such as the US and the UK. Hong Kong authorities separately offered rewards of 1 million Hong Kong dollars for information leading to the arrests of Law, who moved to Britain, and other overseas-based activists. Wong’s latest guilty plea adds to the legal cases that have reshaped Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement under the national security law.

With PTI Inputs

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