HK activist pleads guilty to collusion

Jailed Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, former secretary-general of the now-disbanded political party Demosisto, pleaded guilty in the High Court on Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security.

Wong, 29, entered his plea before Justice William Tam Yiu-ho. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under the national security law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The court heard that Wong conspired with fellow party member and fugitive former legislator Nathan Law Kwun-chung, as well as others in the city, to seek support from the international community for sanctions, blockades or other hostile actions against the HKSAR or the People's Republic of China between July 1 and Nov 23,2020.

Tam ordered the prosecution to read out the case summary because of the public interest in the case.

Law and Wong, along with other activists, established Demosisto in 2016, with Law serving as its founding chairperson. Separatism was among the party's founding missions.

After Demosisto was established, Wong and Law made multiple trips abroad to conduct international lobbying, promote signature campaigns and give interviews to foreign media to advance their advocacy.

Although Demosisto dissolved on June 30, 2020, hours before the National Security Law took effect in the HKSAR on the same day, Wong said online that he would not delete his previous posts, abandon his stance or stop engaging with the international community.

The prosecution highlighted Law's request, following an online petition, for Israeli digital forensics company Cellebrite to stop providing services to the Hong Kong Police Force after the implementation of the National Security Law.

The case summary also reviewed sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany against the PRC and the HKSAR between 2020 and 2021.

These included US sanctions against 15 Hong Kong and Chinese mainland officials, as well as the successive suspensions of extradition agreements with Hong Kong by the UK, France and Germany.

It also reviewed Cellebrite's decision to stop providing its services in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland during the same period.

After hearing Wong's plea for leniency, Tam adjourned sentencing to a date to be announced as soon as possible.

The judge noted that Wong was originally due to be released from prison on Jan 7 next year in a separate case in which he was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit subversion.