(TibetanReview.net, Nov09’26) – China has reacted angrily to international criticisms for its jailing of Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong to an additional term of 10 years under its draconian National Security Law for the special administrative region, calling him a “secessionist”.
Wong, who was due for release in Jan 2027, was given the additional jial sentence by the High court of Hong Kong on Nov 5, prompting criticisms from many democratic governments in the West and international human rights organizations.
For his entirely peaceful campaign for democracy in Hong Kong, Wong—who turned 30 in late 2026—will now remain incarcerated until late 2036, effectively spending his entire 30s behind bars.
Following his sentencing, the foreign ministries of 10 countries – Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada – released a joint statement, condemning how Hong Kong’s National Security Law is weaponized to target peaceful political expression and participation.
Chinese embassies in several countries and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region strongly condemned the joint statement, slamming them for what they called interfering in Hong Kong’s matters, “which are purely China’s internal affairs”, reported China’s international party mouthpiece globaltimes.cn Nov 8.
It cited a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Canada as saying Nov 8 that Wong had long been involved in conspiring with and colluding with foreign or external forces to endanger national security. “He continued these activities even after the implementation of the National Security Law (NSL) for Hong Kong. Wong’s actions seriously undermined China’s sovereignty and dignity, threatened the vital interests of the Hong Kong people and jeopardized the city’s long-term stability and security.”
Despite considerable pressure during the transition between 2019 and 2020 and renewed attention surrounding high-profile cases involving Joshua Wong and Jimmy Lai, such statements cannot reverse the trend of Hong Kong’s transition from chaos to stability and are unlikely to have any real impact, the report cited Li Xiaobing, a Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan affairs expert from China’s Nankai University as saying.
The report also noted that on Nov 7, the spokespersons for the Chinese embassies in France and the Netherlands also firmly opposed the joint statement and “lodged solemn representations, voicing firm support for the HKSAR’s efforts to punish crimes that endanger national security in accordance with the law.”
The contrast between the stability in the city of Hong Kong and turmoil in the West – referring to the massive weekend protests sweeping across France – highlights the shortcomings of Western governance models, Li has maintained.
The report called Wong “an infamous secessionist who used to frequently visit other countries and regions to push for the passage of some Hong Kong-related bills and lobby for American sanctions against China.”
Wong was earlier sentenced in Dec 2020 on two charges related to the siege of the Hong Kong police headquarters by democracy protesters in Jun 2019. He was also sentenced to four years and eight months in prison on Nov 19, 2024, for “conspiring to subvert state power.”
Following his Nov 5 sentencing, Chu Kar-kin, described as a veteran commentator based in the HKSAR and member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, has told the Global Times that offenses under the National Security Law had grave consequences. “Wong would pay the price for his crimes and spend some of the prime years of his life in prison.”