Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday (November 5, 2026) for his second conviction under a Beijing-imposed national security law, in a case that critics say reflects the crackdown on the city’s once-thriving pro-democracy movement.
Hong Kong once had a freewheeling civil society marked by its vibrant protest and media scenes. Some news outlets known for their reports critical of the government shut down, and dozens of civil society groups dissolved. But Beijing views Wong as an anti-China figure supporting Hong Kong independence, a stance that crosses its red line.
But after an anti-government movement rocked the city in 2019, authorities reduced public choice in elections and arrested many leading activists. Hong Kong authorities also said the security law is crucial for the city’s stability following the 2019 protests, maintaining that the city’s law enforcement actions were evidence-based.
“NSL charges can be repeatedly weaponized to keep a specific political prisoner in jail, if the government deems necessary,” said Eric Lai, a research fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, referring to the national security law.
Because of Wong’s guilty plea, he also said he considered a 13-year prison sentence as a starting point but reduced it. Wong only has about two months left on the sentence for his previous national security conviction. Resident E.T.
Judge William Tam said during the sentencing hearing that Wong’s offence was of a grave nature and rejected that his role was limited. The judge said Wong could serve his two prison sentences concurrently. Wong said that when Joshua Wong was just a teenager, he possessed “big-picture thinking” that some adults might not even have. He walked a difficult path for Hong Kong’s future, human rights and student movement, she said. “At least in my heart, he should not have spent a single day in wrongful imprisonment,” she said.
