HONG KONG — Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong is expected to be sentenced on Thursday for his second conviction under a Beijing-imposed national security law, a case that critics say reflects the continued crackdown on the city’s once-vibrant pro-democracy movement.
Wong was charged in 2025 with conspiring with foreign forces to endanger national security under the law. In September, he pleaded guilty, an admission that typically may reduce his sentence, and faced a prison term ranging from three years to life imprisonment.
The 30-year-old is already serving a four-year, eight-month prison term for the city’s most significant national security case tied to an informal primary after he entered a guilty plea in that matter. Prior to the collusion-related accusation, Wong had been expected to be released in January 2027.
Judge William Tam is scheduled to deliver the penalty Thursday morning. Some members of the public began queuing outside the court building as early as Tuesday to secure a place in the public gallery.
Hong Kong once had a comparatively free civil society shaped by vibrant protest and media scenes. After an anti-government movement in 2019, however, authorities reduced public choice in elections and arrested many leading activists. Some news outlets known for critical reporting shut down, and dozens of civil society groups dissolved.
Observers say Wong’s sentencing demonstrates the authorities’ willingness to keep prominent activists imprisoned for as long as possible, potentially further chilling civic activism.
“NSL charges can be repeatedly used to keep a particular political prisoner in jail if the government deems it necessary,” said Eric Lai, a research fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, referring to the national security law.
But Beijing regards Wong as an anti-China figure who supports Hong Kong independence, a position that it treats as crossing a red line. Hong Kong authorities have also said the security law is essential for the city’s stability after the 2019 protests and maintained that the city’s law enforcement actions were evidence-based.
The prosecution had previously alleged that Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law agreed around 2016 to lobby internationally for their goal of democratic self-determination. It said that before the security law was introduced, the pair had called for sanctions and other adverse measures against Hong Kong and China. It cited meetings between Wong and U.S. politicians such as Nancy Pelosi and Marco Rubio in 2016 and 2019.
After the law was enacted, Law and others advanced their efforts abroad through meetings with foreign politicians and the launch of petition drives, it said. Wong supported the effort from Hong Kong through foreign media outlets and social media to draw international attention and build support for sanctions, a blockade, or other hostile measures against China and Hong Kong, it said.
His lawyer, Derek Chan, earlier urged the court to impose a sentence that would give his client hope, adding that Wong hoped to care for his parents after his release.
His friends said that during nearly six years in prison, Wong read books, exercised, taught himself guitar, and matured in his thinking.
To his supporters, Wong is a political figure representing a younger generation born in the final years of Hong Kong’s British colonial rule before the city’s return to China in 1997.
Despite being held in custody, Wong’s influence appeared to remain a concern, at least among the pro-Beijing camp.
In September, a pro-Beijing newspaper criticized a 2017 documentary about Wong on Netflix for “beautifying” his crimes. The city’s security bureau told local media that the government was taking follow-up action.
But the documentary later became one of Netflix’s most popular titles in Hong Kong.