HONG KONG, Sept 2 — Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong pleaded guilty to foreign collusion on Wednesday in a second national security trial against him that could see him jailed for life.
He is accused of asking foreign countries, individuals or institutions to “impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities” against Hong Kong and China in 2020, after Beijing imposed a national security law on the finance hub.
The 29-year-old Wong, one of the most recognisable faces of Hong Kong’s now-quashed democracy movement, is already serving a nearly five-year sentence for subversion and was due to be released next year.
Rights groups have said the new charges, which could see Wong sent to prison for life, aim to keep him behind bars as long as possible.
Wong sat in the courtroom dock as the charges were read out, before confirming his guilty plea, AFP journalists inside the court saw.
He smiled and nodded in thanks after a supporter in the public gallery shouted “hang in there!”.
Wong was among dozens of pro-democracy campaigners convicted in the city’s largest national security trial after their involvement in informal elections in 2020.
The former student leader has been a thorn in Beijing’s side for more than a decade after shooting to prominence during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests.
He was involved in the huge and sometimes violent democracy rallies in 2019 that triggered Beijing’s imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong the following year. — AFP
Date: 2 September, 2026 11:00 am
Source: Malay Mail
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