Wong, who has been behind bars since 2020, was sentenced on Thursday on a charge of collusion with foreign entities under Hong Kong’s national security law. The joint statement was issued on Friday by the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

The governments said the law was being used to target people for political expression and participation. They called for an immediate end to what they described as unjust prosecutions under the law and urged authorities in China and Hong Kong to uphold international commitments and the rights and freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kong residents under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

China imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, after demonstrations that were sometimes violent. The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the joint statement.

On Thursday, after British lawmakers condemned Wong’s sentence, Britain’s embassy urged them to respect China’s sovereignty and the rule of law in Hong Kong, and to stop interfering in Hong Kong and China’s internal affairs.