The United States, United Kingdom and a group of allied governments have condemned the 10-year prison sentence imposed on Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong after he was convicted on an additional National Security Law charge. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand joined the statement issued on Friday. The countries said the ruling came after convictions involving leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance and argued that the National Security Law “is being used to target individuals for political expression and participation.” They called for an end to “all unjust prosecutions of individuals charged under the NSL” and urged China and Hong Kong to honour international obligations and rights protected by the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. China rejected the criticism, saying Wong had been convicted of colluding with a foreign country or outside forces to threaten national security. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that, faced with extensive evidence, Wong had no basis to defend his conduct and entered a guilty plea. Beijing told foreign governments to respect Chinese sovereignty and Hong Kong’s legal system, and to cease intervening in judicial proceedings in Hong Kong or China’s domestic affairs. Wong, 30, had already been serving a four-year-and-eight-month sentence after pleading guilty in a separate major national-security prosecution and had been expected to leave prison in January. However, in 2025, he and fellow activist Nathan Law were newly charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and with seeking action against China and Hong Kong. In his judgment, Judge William Tam wrote that the court also needed to reflect the community’s “abhorrence” at the defendant’s alleged plan and actions with others to collaborate with foreign forces. Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Nathan Law Kwun-chung rose to prominence as teenage student campaigners during the 2012 protests against national education and the 2014 Umbrella Movement. In 2016, they established the now-disbanded political party Demosistō with Agnes Chow, campaigning for democratic self-determination and greater international attention.
