The key facts

  • The foreign ministries of 10 countries, including the US, UK, Japan, and Germany, issued a joint statement on November 6
  • Joshua Wong received 10 years on a new charge under the national security law
  • The statement follows the conviction of Hong Kong Alliance leaders under the same legislation

Joint statement by ten countries

On Friday, November 6, the foreign ministries of ten countries — Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States — issued a joint statement criticizing the 10-year prison sentence handed down to Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong under the national security law. The Anadolu agency reported this.

The substance of the objections and the context of the case

According to the ministries, Wong's sentence was handed down on a new charge under the national security law — several months after the leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance were convicted under the same legislation. The authors of the statement said these cases illustrate, in their words, the use of the law to prosecute people for their political views and activism. They called for an end to what they described as unjustified prosecutions under this legislation, and urged the authorities of Beijing and Hong Kong to fulfill international obligations and respect the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.

What is known and what remains unclear

The Anadolu publication reflects the position of the ten states that signed the statement; the report does not include any reaction from Chinese or Hong Kong authorities to the statement. The publication also does not specify the details of the new charge against Wong or his own position — this information remains unknown from available sources.