Hong Kong (AFP) - Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 more years in jail on Thursday for colluding with foreign powers, the second time he has been penalised under the city’s national security law.

Wong, 30, is one of the most globally recognised faces of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and has already spent almost six years behind bars. He is now not due for release until late 2036.

The United States said his new sentence showed China would “go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate for fundamental freedoms” in the city.

Taiwan and Western human rights groups also condemned the move, while Beijing declared support for Hong Kong “cracking down on acts that endanger national security”.

Wong was previously due to be freed in January after serving four years and eight months for subversion, under a national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese government.

But Hong Kong authorities used the same law to charge him again in June last year, accusing him of collusion with countries and entities to have sanctions imposed on the finance hub and China.

Wong was potentially facing a life term but the court decided “an appropriate starting point” to be 13 years, which was then reduced due to his guilty plea.

Wong said in his mitigation letter to the court, seen by AFP, that the new charge made him feel he was back at square one.

He added that his future would not be defined by the past, and that the years he has spent behind bars have been the “most profound lessons” of his life.

- Political star -

With a heavy police presence at the court, Wong entered the dock looking calm in a blue shirt and black glasses, nodding to supporters.

After the sentencing, Wong thanked and waved to them as he left. Some wept and were heard saying: “We’ll be waiting for your release.”

Wong initially rose to prominence during earlier protests in 2014, known as the Umbrella Movement, and has been in and out of jail since 2017.

Authorities said he started international lobbying as early as 2016, when he promoted a bill that would allow the US president to impose sanctions over rights violations in Hong Kong.

During the 2019 marches, Wong was part of a delegation to the United States to lobby for the bill, which eventually passed.

The following year, Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong that quashed dissent, prompting opposition groups to disband and activists to flee the city.

At the time, Wong vowed to “continue to defend my home – Hong Kong – until they silence me”.

He was among dozens of pro-democracy figures jailed for subversion in 2024, in what was Hong Kong’s largest national security trial. Some have since been released.

Wong’s treatment showed there was “no scope for turning back to the more relaxed days before 2019,” before the national security law, Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London, told AFP before the sentencing.

- ‘Too heartbroken’ -

Among others to condemn Thursday’s events was Taiwan, the democratic island claimed by China, which criticised the “endless political persecution” of Hong Kong activists.

Human Rights Watch called the sentence “cruel and unjust”, and urged foreign governments to impose targeted sanctions on the officials responsible.

Nathan Law, a fellow student leader in self-imposed exile and wanted by authorities, said it was “incredibly sad” to see Wong’s fate, and described the extra jail term as a “farce”.

But Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive John Lee, defended it, saying Wong had an “utter disregard for the law”.

Margaret Chan, a 61-year-old retiree and a long-time supporter of Wong, told AFP that she was “too heartbroken”, noting that Wong would be “in his middle age by the time he is released”.

Housewife ET Wong, who is not related to Joshua Wong, said she cried when she heard about the for someone who had “given his all” for Hong Kong.

“I see his contribution as entirely selfless,” she said.