Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong pleads guilty in national security case

By AFP and Reuters. Published On 2 Sep 20262 Sep 2026.

Key points

• Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were part of a group known for organising annual vigils marking Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy protesters.
• Wong, 29, entered the plea at Hong Kong's High Court in the district of Admiralty on Wednesday.
• He emerged as one of the most internationally recognised faces of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement during the Umbrella Movement protests in 2014.
• Wong additionally co-founded Demosisto, a pro-democracy political party that rolled out in 2016.
• After the charges were read out to him, Wong stood up and informed the judge loudly, "Confirm".

Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong has pleaded guilty to a charge of foreign collusion in a second national security case that could see him jailed for life.

After Beijing imposed a national security law on the autonomous territory, he is accused of asking foreign countries to "impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities" against China and Hong Kong in 2020.

In practice, the offence is punishable by a prison term of three to 10 years, or up to life imprisonment if it is deemed to be "of a grave nature".

Wong is already serving a almost five-year sentence for subversion and was due to be issued next year.

He emerged as one of the most internationally recognised faces of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement during the Umbrella Movement protests in 2014. The movement served as a catalyst for the 2019 protests that led to Beijing's imposition of the national security law.

Wong additionally co-founded Demosisto, a pro-democracy political party that rolled out in 2016. The party disbanded in 2020 on the same day the national security law was enacted.

Prosecutors remarked on Wednesday that Wong had written for newspapers and spoken to media outlets to call for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong after the security law took effect, and met with foreign politicians including former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

After the charges were read out to him, Wong stood up and informed the judge loudly, "Confirm". The judge remarked the sentence will be decided "as soon as possible" but did not specify a date. A number of Western diplomats attended ‌the hearing.

Wong's case comes after two other activists ⁠were discovered guilty of inciting subversion last month after they employed the phrase "end one-party dictatorship" in their political activities.

Taken together, the developments around hong Kong activist Joshua Wong pleads guilty in national security case point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.