Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong gets 10-year prison term
The 30-year-old former student leader was convicted of colluding with foreign forces, extending his time behind bars to roughly a decade and a half.
By Lorenzo Patterson ·
Joshua Wong has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. The 30-year-old activist, who rose to fame as a high school student in 2012, is now serving his second term under the Beijing-imposed national security law. This new sentence stacks on top of a four-year and eight-month prison term he received in 2024 for his role in an unofficial primary election in 2020.
Wong first gained public attention as a 15-year-old leader of the group Scholarism. The organization protested the introduction of national education in Hong Kong schools. Thousands of people gathered outside government headquarters, and some participants launched hunger strikes. The Hong Kong government eventually shelved its plans for the curriculum. Louis Lee, a former member of Scholarism, recalled sleeping on the streets during those early protests. He remembered Wong as a demanding leader who managed the group with intense scrutiny. Lee noted that members often joked Wong was a merciless boss because of his constant calls.
Wong became a central figure in the 2014 Umbrella Movement, which lasted 79 days. Demonstrators used umbrellas to block police pepper spray while occupying major city thoroughfares. The movement aimed for direct election of the city's leader but did not achieve its goal. Scholar Chan Kin-man, a leader in that movement, described Wong as a political force that acted on strong beliefs. Chan recalled an instance where Wong entered a fenced-off area near government headquarters without prior notice, causing the turnout to swell beyond initial plans. Chan viewed Wong’s activism as a young figure taking on a massive system.
In 2016, Wong co-founded the political party Demosisto to advocate for self-determination and a referendum on Hong Kong’s political future. During the 2019 anti-government protests, he shifted focus to seeking overseas support. He urged U.S. politicians to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and called for sanctions against China. Beijing criticized these efforts as begging for interference. The party disbanded when the national security law took effect, which Beijing said was necessary for stability.
Wong was arrested for the collusion offense in June 2025. He had been expected to be released from his previous sentence in January 2027. Chan said Wong recently asked him to send a collection of letters written by Czech dissident Václav Havel. In a letter to Chan, Wong reflected on becoming a better person and a better son, not just a politician. Lee visits Wong regularly in prison and reports that the activist continues to read books, take university courses, and teach himself guitar.
Wong told Lee that the most important thing is to remember why he first stepped forward. He believes the lessons learned in his student organization will continue to help the group grow. In a book about Scholarism, Wong wrote to his future self at age 16. He expressed a desire to live meaningfully and contribute to Hong Kong through student participation.
