Imprisoned Hong Kong Activist Joshua Wong Pleads Guilty to ‘Foreign Collusion’

He will likely need to serve any sentence in its entirety after his current one ends in January, legal expert says.

By Xia Miao for RFA Mandarin

One of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, Joshua Wong, will likely have to serve consecutive sentences after pleading guilty to foreign collusion Wednesday, a Hong Kong-based legal professional told Radio Free Asia.

Wong, 29, is one of the most internationally recognizable faces of the now-quashed democracy movement in the city. He was among 45 Hong Kong opposition politicians and pro-democracy activists who were convicted with “conspiracy to commit subversion” under the city’s 2020 National Security Law for taking part in a democratic primary in the summer of 2020.

He is already serving a four-year-and-eight-month sentence for subversion. He is currently due for release in January, but will almost certainly have to serve more time after entering his plea.

Wong is accused of trying to call on foreign countries, organizations or people in 2020 to “impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities” against China and Hong Kong over the controversial law.

The foreign collusion charge has a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, but Wong’s lawyer, Derek Chan, asked Judge Tam Yiu-ho to give Wong a sentence of three to 10 years, which is at the “upper end of the lower band” of punishments for the crime, according to a report by AFP. Chan noted that Wong had already served most of his first sentence and that his actions in the second crime were not particularly severe.

Low possibility of parole

Regardless of what sentence Wong will receive, he will likely have to serve it in its entirety after his current sentence is up, a Hong Kong legal professional identified only by his surname Wang, told RFA Mandarin.

“Under the principles of common law in Hong Kong, when two cases involve different offenses, the court will consider the criminal acts, the time of occurrence, and the relationship between the two cases before deciding whether the sentences will be served concurrently or consecutively,” said Wang. “Judges will also adjust the sentence according to the totality principle to ensure that the total sentence is proportionate to the overall culpability.”

Wang said the key to determining how long Wong would serve would be whether the court considers him to be a “principal offender, or one whose offences were of a grave nature,” an “active participant” in the crime, or an “other participant.” Wong could also receive a one-third reduction of his sentence for pleading guilty.

The likelihood that Wong would receive parole is very low, Wang said, so he would probably have to serve the full sentence.

Judge Tam said that the sentence would be decided “as soon as possible” but did not offer a specific date, AFP reported.

Deprived of freedom

According to reports, Joshua Wong has been continuously detained since November 23, 2020, after pleading guilty to the June 21, 2019, siege of the Hong Kong Police Headquarters.

He was subsequently implicated in cases involving unauthorized assembly, including a rally to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, and his involvement in the pro-democracy primary. He has now been deprived of his freedom for more than 2,100 days.

The prosecution alleges that Joshua Wong and another prominent pro-democracy figure, Nathan Law, had been conspiring together since 2016.

The two lobbied internationally to promote the “democratic self-determination” proposition, traveling to the United States, Germany, and Italy to meet with local political figures, including then-U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and then-U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, and participating in the promotion of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Wong also spearheaded four joint petitions demanding that the United States, France, and Switzerland cease supplying weapons or strategic equipment to the Hong Kong police.

Law left Hong Kong after the national security law went into effect in 2020, but Wong vowed to stay.

More than 30 people had lined up overnight outside the court to obtain tickets to attend the hearing, with police officers on standby.

One of the citizens in line, identified by her surname Liao, told the media that she wanted to offer moral support to Joshua Wong, because she believes he should not be treated this way.

Joshua Wong is being punished for exercising his right to free speech, Frances Hui, an exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy advocate and policy and advocacy manager for the Washington-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said in a video the organization released prior to the trial.

Hui reflected on knowing Wong since 2016, when they were both teenagers.

“For those of us who watched him grow up, it’s hard to think about the teenager we knew, and it should be hard for anyone to accept that he could now spend decades more behind bars,” Hui said in the video.

“Joshua is about to turn 30 this year. He should be thinking about his future, not whether he’ll ever be free again.”

Edited by Eugene Whong