Joshua Wong Pleads Guilty to Second Hong Kong National Security Charge, Faces Possible Life Sentence

Joshua Wong has been in continuous custody since 2020. Wednesday he added a guilty plea that could keep him there for the rest of his life.

At Hong Kong's High Court in Admiralty, the 29-year-old pro-democracy activist pleaded guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a charge under Beijing's 2020 National Security Law that carries a minimum of three years and a maximum of life imprisonment, according to the BBC and Al Jazeera. Wong stood in the dock, told the judge "Confirm" when the charges were read, and according to Al Jazeera was seen smiling and nodding at roughly 40 supporters who packed the courtroom, some shouting "Hang in there, Joshua!"

What he admitted to

Prosecutors said Wong and exiled former lawmaker Nathan Law conspired as far back as 2016, while running the now-dissolved political party Demosisto, to lobby foreign governments to sanction Hong Kong and Chinese officials. The South China Morning Post reported the admission specifically included urging foreign firms to avoid investing in mainland China and petitioning an Israeli forensic technology company to stop supplying equipment to Hong Kong police.

The conduct at issue ran from 2016 through late November 2020, spanning the period before and after the security law took effect that June. Prosecutors told the court, per the BBC, that Wong and Law met foreign politicians including former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and current U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and that Wong promoted the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a 2019 U.S. law that requires Washington to sanction officials found responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong. After Demosisto disbanded the same day the security law took effect, prosecutors said Wong kept pushing the same message through media interviews and by sharing Law's posts.

The math on his sentence

Wong is currently serving four years and eight months for conspiracy to subvert state power, tied to his role organizing an unofficial 2020 legislative primary in the so-called Hong Kong 47 case. That sentence was due to run out in January 2027. Instead, he was arrested inside prison in June 2025 on this new collusion charge, according to Hong Kong Watch, and now awaits a separate sentencing hearing that Justice William Tam Yiu-ho, a former lead prosecutor of 2019 protest cases, has said will be scheduled "as soon as possible." A guilty plea typically earns a reduced sentence under Hong Kong practice, but even the reduced end of the range adds years on top of a term he was already close to completing.

Two ways to read this

Hong Kong Watch policy director Megan Khoo called the case proof the security law is being "weaponised to restrict freedom of association, criminalise dissidence, and prolong the imprisonment of pro-democracy activists for as long as possible." An unnamed supporter told the Guardian outside the courthouse that the plea reflected "a compromised judicial system with zero space for a fair trial."

Hong Kong and Beijing officials have consistently argued the opposite. They contend the security law restored order after the 2019 unrest and that lobbying foreign governments to sanction your own government's officials is not peaceful advocacy but a genuine threat to a sovereign state's stability. The Epoch Times reported the Hong Kong government reiterating this position last month when it welcomed convictions against Tiananmen vigil organizers and accused Western critics of smearing the territory's judiciary and police. Beijing has never disputed that Wong met with Pelosi and Rubio or promoted U.S. sanctions legislation; the dispute is entirely over whether that activity should be a crime, not over whether it happened.

What's unresolved

No sentencing date has been set. Wong's current sentence still runs through January 2027, and the court has not indicated whether the new term will run concurrently or consecutively, a distinction that will determine whether he serves three additional years or effectively faces the rest of his adult life behind bars. Nathan Law, named throughout the proceedings as Wong's co-conspirator, remains outside mainland jurisdiction and has not been arrested. Hong Kong authorities have not said whether they intend to pursue his extradition or seek an Interpol notice tied to this specific case.