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Democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 more years in jail in the Chinese territory yesterday for colluding with foreign powers.
Wong, who became internationally renowned during the “Umbrella Movement” that convulsed Hong Kong in 2014, has already spent almost six years behind bars and is now not due for release until late 2036.
The former student leader, who turned 30 last month, was previously expected to be freed in January after serving four years and eight months for “subversion” under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
But Hong Kong authorities used the same law to charge Wong again in June last year, accusing him of collusion with other countries and entities to impose sanctions against the finance hub and China.
Pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct ‘Apple Daily’ newspaper, was given 20 years in February under the same legislation.
The court yesterday described Wong and fellow student leader Nathan Law — in self-imposed exile and wanted by authorities — as “two ringleaders or masterminds” of a conspiracy to endanger national security.
Wong was potentially facing a life term as his offence was deemed to be “of a grave nature”, said judge William Tam.
But he decided an “appropriate starting point” for Wong’s offence was 13 years, reduced to 10 because of his guilty plea.
After the sentencing, Wong thanked and waved to his supporters as he left. Some wept and were heard saying: “We’ll be waiting for your release”.
Wong’s fate shows that Beijing “is keeping a tight rein over Hong Kong and there’s no scope for turning back to the more relaxed days before 2019”, said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London, before the sentencing.
Human Rights Watch said his sentence was “cruel and unjust”, and urged foreign governments to “impose targeted sanctions on officials responsible for Hong Kong’s growing repression”.