HONG KONG, Sept 2 (Reuters): Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a charge of collusion with foreign entities, a national security crime carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Wong, 29, rose to international prominence as a teenage democracy activist in Hong Kong, one of a group of youngsters whose protest efforts have now effectively been outlawed by a sweeping National Security Law that Beijing imposed on the Asian financial hub in 2020.

Wearing a dark blue shirt and black-rimmed glasses, Wong waved and nodded to people from the court's dock, inhaling deeply at times, before pleading ⁠guilty to a government-approved national security judge at Hong Kong's High Court in the district of Admiralty.

Several Western diplomats attended the hearing.

The prosecution highlighted what it said was an international media and political campaign by Demosisto, a now-disbanded political party that once backed a referendum on Hong Kong's sovereignty and counted Wong as one of its leaders, that sought to bring sanctions on Hong Kong and China in 2019 and 2020.

Wong is already in jail serving an existing sentence on an earlier national security charge of conspiracy to commit subversion after he was among a group of democratic activists who participated in an unofficial primary election in 2020. His current sentence is scheduled to end next year.

A charge sheet seen earlier by Reuters ⁠accused Wong of having conspired with exiled activist Nathan Law and others to ask foreign countries, institutions, organizations, or individuals outside China to impose sanctions or blockades.

Such actions against Hong Kong or China, along with other hostile activities targeting them, took place in 2020, between July 1 and November 23, it added.

Wong's case and others are being closely watched by international human rights groups and some Western ⁠countries tracking the implementation of the National Security Law.

His case comes after two other activists were found guilty of inciting subversion last month after they used the phrase "end one-party dictatorship" in their political activities.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were part of a group ⁠known for organising annual vigils marking Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Hong Kong's National Security Law was passed on June 30, 2020, in part as a response to months of sometimes-violent pro-democracy protests that roiled the city in ⁠2019.

While international human rights groups and Western countries criticised the law as excessive given the high degree of autonomy Hong Kong was promised following its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong and Chinese officials said it was vital to restore stability.

Photo from Reuters