Star Metro - Hong Kong democracy activist Wong pleads guilty to foreign collusion

He is accused of asking foreign countries, individuals or institutions to "impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities" against Hong Kong and China in 2020, after Beijing imposed a national security law on the semi-autonomous finance hub.

The 29-year-old Wong, one of the most recognisable faces of Hong Kong's now-quashed democracy movement, is already serving a nearly five-year sentence for subversion and was due to be released in January.

Rights groups have said the new charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, aim to keep him behind bars as long as possible.

He smiled and nodded in thanks after a supporter in the public gallery shouted: "Hang in there!"

Prosecutors said Wong, along with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and others, had been lobbying on social media to draw support from abroad.

Wong had written for newspapers and spoken to media outlets to call for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong after the security law took effect, and met with foreign politicians including former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio, prosecutors added.

Wearing a collared shirt and black-rimmed spectacles, Wong stood up straight, hands behind his back, as charges were read to him.

Asked to confirm his plea, he told the judge loudly: "Confirm."

His lawyer Derek Chan argued for a shorter sentence of three to 10 years, noting that Wong has already spent around six years in prison for various offences.

He asked the judge to consider a sentence that would "give the defendant some hope... a future to look forward to that will not be crushing".

Wong's sentence will be decided "as soon as possible", the judge said, without specifying a date.

As he was escorted out from the courtroom, Wong waved to supporters and called out: "Bye-bye."

- Thorn in Beijing's side -

The former student leader has been a thorn in Beijing's side for more than a decade.

He began his life of activism aged just 13, before shooting to prominence as a student leader during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests.

Along with Law and activist Agnes Chow, Wong founded the Demosisto party in 2016, which advocated for Hong Kong's self-determination.

He was first jailed in 2017 for his role in the Umbrella Movement protests, and has been in and out of jail since.

Despite the prosecutions against him, Wong continued to press his advocacy beyond Hong Kong, meeting with politicians in Taiwan, the United States, Germany, Italy and the European Parliament.

He was also involved in the huge and sometimes violent democracy rallies in 2019 that triggered Beijing's imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong the following year.

He is currently serving a prison term after being convicted, along with dozens of pro-democracy campaigners, in the city's largest national security trial over their involvement in informal elections in 2020.

Demosisto disbanded in that same year, as Beijing's national security law took effect.

While Law and Chow ultimately fled abroad, Wong remained determined to stay in Hong Kong.

At the time, Wong vowed in a Facebook post: "I will continue to defend my home -- Hong Kong -- until they silence me and eliminate me from this land."

Louis Lee, a former member of the now-disbanded Scholarism student group co-founded by Wong, visited him regularly in prison.

He told AFP before Wednesday's hearing that Wong remained "energetic" while in detention by working out, playing the guitar and studying university courses.

"Some people feel that... Joshua seems to have disappeared from the public eye, but in reality he has never given up on himself," Lee said.

"He has continued to strive to be a better man."

S.Cloutier--SMC