UHRP Condemns Cruel 10-Year Sentence for Hong Kong Democracy Activist Joshua Wong, Calls for Immediate Release

Joshua Wong PR Image

For immediate release
November 6, 2026 | 4:00 p.m. EST
Contact: Omer Kanat, +1 (202) 790-1795 

The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) strongly condemns the sentencing of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong to 10 years in prison under Beijing’s draconian national security law, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. 

Wong, who came to prominence as a student leader during Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement and as a cofounder of pro-democracy party Demosistō, has been imprisoned since 2020. Wong was due to be released in January 2027, but was instead sentenced on November 5, 2026 to another 10 years on baseless charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces. Now aged 30, Wong faces imprisonment until age 40. 

“The cruel sentencing of Joshua Wong is a horrific reminder of the Chinese government’s complete intolerance of dissent,” said UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat. “The Chinese government has weaponized ‘national security’ to silence those advocating for democracy in Hong Kong, just as it has used the same pretext to justify the arbitrary arrest, detention, imprisonment, and enforced disappearance of countless Uyghurs.”

Since imposing its national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, the Chinese government has silenced protest movements, forced activists into exile, and systematically dismantled fundamental freedoms of speech and assembly in Hong Kong. Wong’s sentencing, his second prosecution under the law, is a further violation of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by both the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

UHRP welcomes statements condemning the sentence from the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and other governments and urges them to continue pressing for Wong’s release. President Trump must make his release, and the release of all political prisoners, a priority in his upcoming meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

In a recent letter from prison, Wong told a friend, “The only thing I worry about is that people will forget Hong Kong.” The international community must ensure that Joshua Wong, the people of Hong Kong, and all those imprisoned for exercising fundamental freedoms are not forgotten.