Joshua Wong admits instigating foreign sanctions, awaits sentencing

Former Demosisto secretary-general Joshua Wong Chi-fung appeared in the High Court on Wednesday for a mitigation hearing after pleading guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security.

Wong has been in custody for more than 2,100 days since he was remanded on November 23, 2020. He is currently serving a sentence of 4 years and 8 months in a separate 35+ subversion case. Under the National Security Law, foreign collusion carries a sentence of life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years for major offenses, and between 3 and 10 years for general circumstances.

The 29-year-old admitted conspiring with fugitive ex-lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung and others between July 1 and November 23, 2020, to request foreign sanctions, blockades and other hostile actions against the Beijing and Hong Kong governments.

The hearing was held before Justice William Tam Yiu-ho. Wong was represented in court by Senior Counsel Derek Chan, alongside barristers Velda Yau and Jason Szeto Tze-long, while Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Andy Lo Tin-wai represented the Department of Justice.

According to the agreed summary of facts, Wong and Law formed Demosisto in 2016 to pursue "democratic self-determination" through international lobbying.

Before the National Security Law took effect on June 30, 2020, the pair lobbied US politicians to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, testified at congressional hearings and campaigned across Germany, Italy, and the European Parliament to halt exports of crowd-control equipment to local police.

Following the law's enactment and Demosisto's disbandment, Wong remained in Hong Kong while Law fled overseas. Prosecutors said the duo maintained a division of labor: Law conducted international advocacy abroad while Wong amplified the international front locally through social media posts and foreign media commentaries—including a co-authored Guardian piece advocating fluid resistance and a Financial Times article urging foreign firms to reduce trade reliance on China.

The court heard that Wong also joined Law in promoting an online petition targeting Israeli firm Cellebrite, which subsequently ceased supplying digital forensic software to the Hong Kong Police Force. Between 2020 and 2021, various foreign nations enacted sanctions, suspended extradition treaties, and passed restrictive legislation targeting officials and trade statuses in mainland China and Hong Kong.

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