Jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong pleads guilty to foreign collusion charge

Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces – his second conviction under a Beijing-imposed national security law following a landmark subversion case.

Joshua Wong. File photo: Studio Incendo.

Wong entered a guilty plea at the High Court on Wednesday over the foreign collusion charge. The 29-year-old was accused of conspiring with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and others to request foreign countries to impose sanctions and blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China in 2020.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of life behind bars.

Wong is currently serving a prison term of four years and eight months for conspiracy to subvert state power in the landmark national security case known as the “Hong Kong 47,” in which he was among 45 prominent campaigners convicted in 2024.

He was originally expected to complete his sentence in 2027, but the fresh foreign collusion conviction could add years to his prison stint.

The activist was arrested in Stanley Prison by the police’s national security department in June last year. He has been behind bars since November 2020.

Police officers outside the High Court on September 2, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. ‘International front’

Wong, wearing thick black-rimmed glasses and a navy shirt, was led into the dock before 10am on Wednesday. He nodded to friends and supporters sitting in the public gallery.

Judge William Tam said the charge would be read out to Wong due to the high level of public interest in his case.

In a clear voice, Wong pleaded “guilty” after the charge was read out by a court clerk.

Reading out a court document known as the summary of facts, prosecutors told the court that Wong and Law had pursued the notion of “democratic self-determination” under the pro-democracy party Demosisto, which the pair founded in 2016. They were accused of having requested foreign sanctions by engaging in an “international front” in the wake of the 2019 protests and unrest.

“The defendant, [Law] and their affiliates had adopted international lobbying strategies to seek foreign attention and support,” prosecutor Mingme Yeung said.

Wong was said to have conducted international lobbying for sanctions against Hong Kong or China, requesting that the US introduce the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in 2019 and imploring other Western countries to impose Magnitsky-style sanction programmes.

He continued his international lobbying campaign despite the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law in June 2020, while Law flew out of the city to carry on their cause overseas, prosecutors said.

A Correctional Service vehicle outside the High Court on September 2, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.

Demosisto announced its disbandment on the day the national security law came into effect. Law is wanted by the Hong Kong national security police, with a HK$1 million bounty issued for information leading to his arrest.