Some 15 years ago, then-high school student Joshua Wong was a rising political star in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
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Wong → rise → movement
Now 30, he has been sentenced for the second time under a Beijing-imposed national security law that effectively crushed the movement he once championed.
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he → sentence → movement
Critics say Wong’s imprisonment reflects the authorities’ determination to keep prominent dissidents behind bars.
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imprisonment → say → bars
But Beijing views him as an anti-China figure supporting Hong Kong independence.
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Beijing → view → independence
Here is what to know about the activist.
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know → know → activist
He won his first political fight as a high school student
Wong became a household name in the city as a teenage activist in 2012 when he and his now-dissolved group, Scholarism, protested against the introduction of national education in schools.
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he → win → schools
Thousands of people gathered outside the government headquarters, some launching hunger strikes.
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some → gather → strikes
Wong, then 15, already spoke like an experienced politician.
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Wong → speak → politician
Louis Lee, a former Scholarism member, recalled sleeping on the streets for days as a high school student during their protests, fearing that their demonstrations might end like the deadly crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square student-led movement in Beijing, which involved hunger strikes.
But the Hong Kong government eventually shelved its plans, and Lee felt their efforts made things a little better.
uncertain
things → recall → plans
Lee described Wong as a demanding leader who kept a close eye on the group’s work.
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who → describe → work
He still remembers Wong’s phone number because Wong had called him too often.
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Wong → remember → him
“Back then, the Scholarism members always joked that he was a merciless boss,” Lee said.
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Lee → joke → ?
Wong became the poster boy for a 2014 movement
Wong was a poster boy of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, in which protesters used umbrellas to fend off police pepper spray.
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protesters → become → spray
During the protests, also known as Occupy Central, demonstrators occupied major thoroughfares for 79 days in an ultimately unsuccessful push for direct election for the city’s leader.
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demonstrators → know → leader
Scholar Chan Kin-man, a leader of the 2014 movement, had mixed feelings about Wong back then.
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man → have → Wong
Although he wasn’t a key decision-maker in the movement, Wong’s speeches stirred crowds with a political energy rare for his age, and his activism was viewed as “David taking on Goliath,” Chan said.
Chan also felt Wong acted on his beliefs, though sometimes without telling others in advance. Wong stormed into a fenced-off forecourt in front of government headquarters days before the planned start of the Occupy protest, without first informing Chan.
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Wong → stir → Chan
The turnout swelled beyond what Chan had planned.
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Chan → swell → what
Another student group was also caught off guard when Wong and other Scholarism members launched a hunger strike near the end of the movement, Chan said.
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Chan → catch → movement
Some were concerned at the time about Wong’s political calculations, he said.
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he → concern → calculations
Wong formed a party and advocated for sanctions
When Beijing didn’t budge during the 2014 movement, some young activists began advocating for Hong Kong’s independence.
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activists → form → independence
Wong took a different path and co-founded a political party called Demosisto in 2016, advocating for self-determination and striving for a referendum on the city’s political future.
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Wong → take → future
But later, a Chinese official said “self-determination” equates to Hong Kong independence.
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determination → say → independence
During the leaderless anti-government protests in 2019, Wong played a less prominent role on the streets but worked on seeking overseas support.
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Wong → play → support
He urged U.S. politicians to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.
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He → urge → Act
Beijing criticized him for “begging for interference.”
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Beijing → criticize → interference
As the national security law loomed, he urged the U.S. to sanction China.
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he → loom → China
But Demosisto disbanded when the law took effect.
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law → disband → effect
Beijing said the law was necessary for the city’s stability.
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law → say → stability
The young activist has spent years behind bars
Wong has been arrested and jailed repeatedly for his activism over the years.
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Wong → spend → years
In 2024, he was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for a separate national security case over his role in an unofficial primary in 2020.
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he → sentence → 2020
On Thursday, he received a prison term of 10 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security.
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he → receive → security
Chan said Wong once asked him to send “Letters to Olga,” a collection of letters Czech dissident Václav Havel wrote to his wife from prison before becoming president.
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Havel → say → prison
Wong told him in a letter that he reflected on being not just a politician, but a better person, including a better son.
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he → tell → son
“He was a political machine,” Chan said.
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Chan → say → ?
“But through our correspondence later, I feel he is someone who is very reflective, and an increasingly mature politician.”
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who → feel → correspondence
Lee, Wong’s former Scholarism colleague, visits him regularly in prison and exchanges letters with him.
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Lee → visit → him
He said Wong kept reading books, taking university courses and teaching himself guitar, always striving to improve himself.
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Wong → say → himself
The two grew closer, with Wong softening behind bars, caring more about others’ personal lives and sending Lee cards on special occasions.
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Wong → grow → occasions
Before his arrest for the collusion-related offense in June 2025, Wong had been expected to be freed in January next year.
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Wong → relate → January
“The message he gave me is that the most important thing is to not forget why you first stepped forward,” Lee said, relaying what Wong told him in 2021.
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Wong → give → 2021
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
