Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong, 30, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security.
In court, Wong, appearing calm and down-to-earth, wore a blue shirt and dark-framed glasses, with three security guards accompanying him. He repeatedly nodded in acknowledgment to people seated in the public gallery.
on Sept. 2 this year, the activist pleaded guilty to conspiring with a fellow pro-democracy activist Nathan Law and others to ask foreign governments and individuals to impose sanctions, a blockade and other hostile measures against China, Hong Kong and their officials.
The conspiracy is said to have taken place between July 1 and Nov. 23, 2020, beginning the day after the national security law took effect.
It is the activist’s second conviction under the Beijing-imposed national security law, as China authorities have been increasingly using the law to hurt people on what it describes as national security grounds to punish those involved in pro-democracy activities.
Critics have criticised the law all this while, arguing it is made as a targeted tool and weapon to silence people who intend to speak up against the government, and have also argued that it undermines due process and the right to a fair trial.
Wong has been in prison since 2020, when he was jailed over his role in a 2019 protest outside Hong Kong Police Headquarters. He was later sentenced to four years and eight months for his involvement in the 2020 pro-democracy primary election.
After Thursday’s sentence, Only two months and two days of his existing four-year, eight-month sentence will run concurrently with the new term. Almost the entire 10-year term is therefore additional imprisonment, and the sentencing arrangement is expected to keep him in prison until around 2036.
Speaking before handing over the sentence, Judge William Tam Yiu-ho said:
“The punishment must fit the gravity of the crime committed. It is also necessary for this court to express the community’s abhorrence of the defendant’s scheme and acts together with others to collude with foreign forces…and to serve the imperative of general deterrence”
According to judge Tam, Wong and fellow pro-democracy activist Nathan Law were the masterminds of the conspiracy.
Adding that they had direct engagement with senior foreign officials and promoted calls for sanctions through their own social media accounts and prominent Western news outlets, reaching local and international audiences.
Judge Tam also argued the acts contributed to the imposition of sanctions and hostile measures by foreign countries, and that those measures significantly impacted and endangered national security.
Washington withdrawing Hong Kong’s separate standing and imposing penalties on Chinese and Hong Kong officials,is one of the example judge tam gave.
The activist initially believed his political activities were within the law but now he said he recognised that his judgment had been mistaken.
According to a statement Associated Press received from Wong in prison, the activist said his political participation was never driven by hatred and further pushed he beared no felling of bitterness toward the Chinese or Hong Kong governments.
Wong also reflected on the time he had already spent in prison and the years he still faced spending behind bars, and expressed hope that he would eventually look back on the experience as a difficult period that had made him stronger, adding he had been taking university courses and reading hundreds of books.
Judge Tam set a starting point of the sentence at 13 years and reduced the sentence to 10 years for the guilty plea and mitigation.
“In the face of overwhelming facts and evidence, it was impossible for Wong Chi-fung to deny his wrongdoing and so he could only plead guilty, serving as a powerful deterrent to all those attempting to collude with external forces and undermine national interests,” a HKSAR Government said in a statement .
The government said it will forfeit Wong’s offence-related property in accordance with the law.
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