Ten More Years: Hong Kong Jails Joshua Wong Until 2036

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been jailed for a further ten years, in a sentence that will keep one of the city's best-known dissidents behind bars until 2036. Wong, 29, pleaded guilty in a new case under the national security law after spending almost five years in detention awaiting trial. He had already been serving a separate sentence for subversion. Under Hong Kong's national security law, he could have faced life imprisonment; the court handed down ten years on Wednesday.

The sentence has provoked an immediate international response. The British government condemned the conviction, describing it as the latest instance of the dismantling of freedom in Hong Kong, and the foreign secretary demanded Wong's immediate release. The European Union said the case exemplified China's systematic abuse of the national security law. The United States has said that the ten-year term exposes Beijing's claim that its security crackdown will stop. Several European governments have joined in condemning the sentence, and the European Parliament may debate a resolution that would urge the release of political prisoners, suspend extradition treaties with China and place officials on sanctions lists. A petition calling for the UK government to revoke its extradition treaty with China has drawn more than 35,000 signatures.

The details of the charge reveal how far the national security law now reaches. Wong's new case centres on remarks made in social media posts and interviews from his cell, where he has been detained since February 2021. In 2023, he signed a petition calling for sanctions against the officials responsible for his detention, after a ruling that he should be released on bail was upheld. The petition was part of a campaign, supported by hundreds of other prisoners, that began after a 2023 court ruling that the government had acted unlawfully in detaining them.

Wong's family said the sentence was cruel and shocking and promised to continue campaigning for his release, while his lawyers said they would appeal. A joint statement from 25 governments and human rights groups condemned the sentence as the latest instance of political persecution and called on the Chinese government to release all political prisoners. Meanwhile, Wong's family has appealed to the Hong Kong government to release him on humanitarian grounds, citing his deteriorating health. He has lost more than 20 kilograms since his detention began, and his lawyers say he is suffering from a serious skin condition and a vitamin deficiency.

The sentencing reflects the reality of a city that has changed beyond recognition since the 2019 protests. Wong first came to prominence as a teenage student leader, and he went on to lead the 2014 Umbrella Movement and co-found the Demosistō party. Since the introduction of the national security law in 2020, the authorities have detained hundreds of activists, journalists and politicians, and the city's independent media has been dismantled. Wong was already serving a four-year and eight-month sentence for subversion, after being convicted in the mass trial of 47 activists in 2024, and he is currently detained in the high-security Stanley Prison.

Hong Kong's government has defended the sentence, saying it is in line with the law and that Wong's case is not a matter of political persecution. The government has also rejected the international criticism, saying it is interference in China's internal affairs. The case is a reminder that the national security law is not a temporary measure, but a permanent feature of Hong Kong's legal landscape. It is a law that has been used to detain hundreds of people, and it remains the instrument by which the city is governed.

Read the original story on The Curtain: https://thecurtain.online/story/joshua-wong-ten-years-prison-2036/