U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi called on lawmakers and the international community to press for the release of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, a Christian who now faces the possibility of life imprisonment after pleading guilty to a national security charge.
In remarks on the House floor this week, Pelosi said Wong had pleaded guilty to “speaking out for freedom” and warned that he could receive a life sentence. She criticized Hong Kong’s national security law as “anything but security,” describing it instead as “a repression law.”
Pelosi also mentioned jailed Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, saying he is “at the other end of life” and “could spend the rest of his life in prison.” She urged Congress and the wider international community to continue advocating for both men.
The California Democrat said Congress has maintained bipartisan support for human rights in Hong Kong, Tibet and other parts of China. “We must speak out for freedom. We must not let this be ignored,” Pelosi said, adding that lawmakers wanted Wong and Lai to know they had not been forgotten.
Wong, 29, pleaded guilty Wednesday to colluding with foreign entities under Hong Kong’s national security law, an offense that can carry a sentence of up to life in prison. Prosecutors said the conduct involved efforts between July 1 and Nov. 23, 2020, to encourage foreign sanctions and other actions against Hong Kong and China.
He is already serving a four-year, eight-month sentence for conspiracy to commit subversion stemming from his involvement in an unofficial 2020 primary election. His current sentence is scheduled to end in January 2027.
Wong rose to international prominence as a teenage democracy activist and became a leading figure in Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement before later taking part in the territory’s broader pro-democracy movement.
Raised in a Christian family, Wong attended a church-run secondary school and has frequently spoken about the influence of his faith on his activism.
Hong Kong imposed the National Security Law on June 30, 2020, following months of sometimes violent protests in 2019. Critics, including international rights groups and Western governments, have argued that the law has weakened freedoms promised to Hong Kong under its post-1997 constitutional framework, while Hong Kong and Chinese authorities maintain that it was necessary to restore stability.
Against this broader backdrop of restrictions on religious and political expression, Chinese authorities have also continued actions against unregistered Christian congregations on the mainland. Chinese police recently detained Hu Yile, leader of Shanghai’s unregistered Jie’en Church, for seven days after more than 30 officers entered its Aug. 30 Sunday service, according to ChinaAid.
The detention followed another Shanghai church raid last month in which Pastor David Tang and six other Christians were taken into custody, with their whereabouts initially undisclosed.
