Responding to jailed Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong being newly charged with “conspiring to collude with foreign forces” under the city’s National Security Law, Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks said:

“Hong Kong’s National Security Law is turning five years old at the end of the month, and these new charges against Joshua Wong show that its capacity to be used by the Hong Kong authorities to threaten human rights in the city is as potent and present as ever.

“Once again, the vague and sweeping offence of ‘collusion with foreign forces’ is being weaponized to justify an attack on the freedoms of expression and association.

“Wong, already jailed for his participation in informal primaries, would have been released in a year and a half. But if this case goes forward, he could face as much as a life sentence.

“This latest charge against him underscores the authorities’ fear of prominent dissidents and shows the lengths they will go to keep them behind bars for as long as possible – in so doing, continuing a chilling effect on civic activism in the city. The Hong Kong government must drop these charges and cease enforcing the National Security Law immediately, as called for by UN bodies. All people jailed simply for exercising their human rights must be set free.”

Background

Joshua Wong was on Friday charged with conspiring to collude with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s Beijing-imposed National Security Law.

The prominent activist, who was one of 45 opposition figures jailed under the National Security Law last year over their participation in unofficial “primaries”in 2020, faced the new national security offence in court on Friday.

Under the new charge, Wong is reportedly accused of conspiring with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and “other persons unknown” between July 2020 and November 2020 to request foreign countries or organizations to impose sanctions, blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China. The new charge carries a potential life sentence.

Wong was previously sentenced to four years and eight months for “conspiracy to commit subversion” in Hong Kong’s largest prosecution under the National Security Law.

Hong Kong’s human rights situation has deteriorated dramatically since 2020, with more than 300 people arrested for violating the Beijing-imposed National Security Law or a colonial-era “sedition” law. In addition, the so-called Article 23 legislation introduced last year by the local authorities has further deepened repression and silenced opposition voices in the city.