Joshua Wong Pleads Guilty to Colluding With Foreign Forces

Joshua Wong pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a national security charge that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, before Judge William Tam at Hong Kong's High Court.

Wong, 29, is already serving four years and eight months for conspiracy to commit subversion in the "Hong Kong 47" case, in which 45 pro-democracy figures were convicted in 2024. He had been due for release in January 2027 before national security police arrested him on the new charge inside Stanley Prison in June 2025.

Prosecutors accused Wong of conspiring with self-exiled former lawmaker Nathan Law and others, between July and November 2020, to press foreign governments to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures against Hong Kong and China. The offence carries three to 10 years in prison, or up to life if a court deems it "of a grave nature."

Court clerks read the charge in full, citing the "high level of public interest" in the case. Several Western diplomats attended.

Senior Counsel Derek Chan, Wong's lawyer, asked Judge Tam to set a starting point of no more than 10 years, then apply the customary one-third discount for the guilty plea plus a further two-year reduction for delays in bringing the case to trial. Chan said Wong, who turns 30 next month, has spent nearly six years in prison across his cases, has read hundreds of books in custody and hopes eventually to care for his ageing parents.

Judge Tam said he would decide on a sentence "as soon as possible" and adjourned the hearing without setting a date.

The case is the second brought against Wong under the National Security Law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 after the previous year's mass protests. Other prominent figures have drawn lengthy terms under the same law: media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who contested his charges at trial rather than pleading guilty, was sentenced in February to 20 years, the longest term handed down under the law so far.