A little more than two months before he was expected to walk out of prison, Joshua Wong was handed a new decade-long sentence. On Thursday, a Hong Kong High Court judge ruled that the 30-year-old activist would serve 10 years for collusion with foreign entities under the city’s national security law (NSL). It is his second conviction under the law, and it overshadows the release date that had seemed, until today, within reach.

What the court decided

Judge William Tam delivered the sentence, which Reuters, AP and The Standard all report. Wong had pleaded guilty in September, and that plea shaped the outcome. The judge began from a 13-year starting point and trimmed it to 10 years, citing the plea and mitigating factors including Wong’s remorse and his efforts to educate himself in prison. The offence carries a maximum of life imprisonment, so the term sits well below the ceiling.

Reuters quotes Tam as saying, “The punishment must fit the gravity of the crime.” Foreign consuls attended the hearing, and police guarded the court.

The case against him

Prosecutors accused Wong of conspiring with Nathan Law, a self-exiled activist, and others to urge governments and bodies outside China to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures on Hong Kong and China. AP and Reuters report that the prosecution described lobbying in Washington, including meetings with Nancy Pelosi and then-Senator Marco Rubio. In the prosecution’s telling, Law pressed the cause abroad while Wong amplified it at home through social media and commentary in foreign media.

Reuters gives the charged period as 1 July to 23 November 2020, and says the court found the pair kept up their activities after the NSL took effect. AP adds that prosecutors also pointed to earlier meetings in 2016 and 2019, which were presented as evidence and context rather than as part of the charged period.

In mitigation, Wong said he never advocated Hong Kong independence, regime change or the “collapse of China,” and never accepted foreign funding. According to Reuters, he also said he later realised his activities were not within the law. Steve Li, a chief superintendent in the police national security department, said Wong was not an “enemy” but needed to learn to respect the law.

A release date that just moved

The practical question is how much time this adds. Wong was already serving 4 years and 8 months in the “47 case,” the subversion prosecution tied to an unofficial pro-democracy primary. He was expected to be freed in January 2027, with about two months left on that term. He was arrested on the new charge in June 2025, while still in custody.

AP reports that the judge said the two sentences could run concurrently. Coverage differs in emphasis, though. Human Rights Watch’s headline says “nearly 10 more years,” while Al Jazeera, CNN and Hong Kong Watch describe an additional 10 years. None of the reporting confirms a new release date, and no appeal or appeal deadline has been reported. Until the court’s written reasons are published or officials clarify, the date remains an open question.

A pattern, or a coincidence

Wong’s story has been tied to the city’s courts for years. In December 2020 he was sentenced to 13.5 months for organising and inciting an unauthorised assembly in 2019. Reuters says he has been detained since November 2020. The Beijing-imposed NSL came into force that same year, after protests that were at times violent.

Today’s ruling follows the February 2026 sentencing of media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years. AFP reports that two of those years overlap with his existing term, leaving 18 additional years. Together, the two cases show the law being applied to the most prominent names of the 2019 era.

Observers quoted by AP read the pattern as a determination to keep leading activists behind bars for as long as possible. Eric Lai of Georgetown’s Center for Asian Law told AP that NSL charges can be used again and again to keep a political prisoner jailed. Hong Kong authorities take the opposite view, describing the law as crucial for stability after the 2019 unrest.

The international response

Reaction came quickly. The US consulate in Hong Kong said, according to AFP, that it “strongly condemns” the sentence and called for Wong’s immediate release. Taiwan’s top China policy body, as reported by Al Jazeera, described Beijing and Hong Kong as pursuing “endless political persecution.”

Rights groups were just as blunt. Al Jazeera reports that Human Rights Watch’s Elaine Pearson called the sentence cruel and unjust and the charges baseless, while Amnesty International called it another grim reminder of the NSL being used to punish dissent. Megan Khoo, policy and advocacy director at Hong Kong Watch, said in the group’s own statement that the case showed the “weaponisation of the Hong Kong National Security Law.” These groups are advocacy organisations, and their statements reflect that position.

What to watch next

The first thing to look for is the court’s written reasons for sentence, which should clarify how the judge weighed the plea and whether the two terms will truly run together. The second is whether Wong’s side files an appeal. Neither had been reported at the time of writing.

Beyond the courtroom, more government reactions may follow, with none yet reported from the UK or the EU. Nathan Law remains abroad, and no further proceedings were reported today. For readers following the fuller account, AP’s report and Al Jazeera’s coverage lay out the day’s events in detail. What happens to the date in January 2027 will be the clearest sign of what this sentence actually means.