Wong, 22, became one of the most recognisable faces of the “Umbrella Movement” in 2014 which paralysed key intersections of the financial hub for more than two months.

Protesters were demanding a greater say in how the city is run, including the right for Hong Kongers to directly elect the city’s leader.

The movement — which took its name from the umbrellas protesters used to defend themselves against police — failed to win any concessions from the city’s pro-Beijing authorities, and its leaders faced a slew of prosecutions.

Wong, who was 17 when the protests began, was jailed for three months in January 2018 on a contempt charge after pleading guilty to obstructing the clearance of a major protest camp.

He served only six days of that sentence before being released on bail pending an appeal.

On Thursday, however, a senior judge said Wong must return to jail — albeit for a reduced sentence of two months.

Justice of Appeal Jeremy Poon said Wong’s age at the time of the offence was a mitigating factor, as well as his guilty plea and apology.

But he dismissed Wong’s argument that he had been excessively punished by authorities because of his prominent status as “entirely baseless and misconceived”.

Democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung (C) prepares to go through security check in the High Court in Hong Kong, China, 16 May 2019.  // EPA-EFE PHOTO

Wong turned to supporters after the verdict and told them to “add oil” — a commonly used Cantonese phrase of encouragement.

He was then led away to a prison van.

 – Extradition fears –

Speaking to reporters before the verdict, Wong said he was facing the prospect of jail “with a calm mind”, noting that other leaders had received much longer sentences.

Last month two key leaders of the protests were jailed for 16 months.

“We will never forget the spirit of Umbrella Movement and we will continue to fight for free elections,” he said.

Wong’s jailing comes against a backdrop of roiling turmoil in Hong Kong over the government’s plans to approve extraditions to the Chinese mainland for the first time.

The issue has sparked the largest protests in the city since the 2014 demonstrations and even sparked scuffles in the legislature.

Hong Kong’s leadership has faced a chorus of criticism from business, legal figures and western governments who fear the law could tangle people up in China’s opaque court system.

But the city’s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam has vowed to press on.

In his comments Wong warned the proposed law might see activists pursued by the mainland, something the Hong Kong government has denied.

“Today the High Court, tomorrow the People’s Court,” he said, referring to the mainland’s judicial system.

Wong was also convicted in a second prosecution related to the storming of a government forecourt during the 2014 protests.

He spent some time behind bars for that case, but in the end the city’s top court ruled that community service was sufficient punishment.

While Hong Kong enjoys rights unseen on the Chinese mainland under a 50-year handover agreement between Britain and China, there are fears those liberties are being eroded as Beijing flexes its muscles and stamps down on dissent.

Authorities in Hong Kong and the mainland have defended the prosecutions as a necessary measure to punish the leaders of a direct action movement that took over the heart of the city for many weeks.

    Ties have been deteriorating since a Canadian company sent around 100 shipping containers that included rotting rubbish wrongly labelled as recyclables to Philippine ports in 2013 and 2014.

Manila set a May 15 deadline for Canada to take the rotting trash back, after President Rodrigo Duterte berated Ottawa over the issue last month.

Canada has since said it is working to arrange for the containers’ return, but has not given a timeframe.

    Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said letters recalling the ambassador and consuls to Canada have been sent and the diplomats would be in Manila “in a day or so”.

“Canada missed the May 15 deadline. And we shall maintain a diminished diplomatic presence in Canada until its garbage is ship-bound there,” Locsin wrote on Twitter.

Duterte’s spokesman said the move was a warning to Canada that the Philippines was ready to sever ties over the issue.

“The president’s position is very clear: take that back otherwise our relations are over,” Salvador Panelo told reporters.

Canada’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

– ‘Let’s fight Canada’ –

The garbage has strained ties, which were already tested after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau questioned Duterte’s deadly drug crackdown.

Duterte bristles at any international criticism of his signature policy, which has seen police kill thousands of alleged addicts and pushers since 2016.

Last year he cancelled the Philippine military’s $235 million contract to buy 16 military helicopters from a Canada-based manufacturer after Ottawa put the deal under review because of the president’s human rights record.

During a speech in April, Duterte threatened to unilaterally ship the garbage back to Canada, saying “let’s fight Canada. I will declare war against them.”

Duterte frequently uses coarse language and hyperbole in speeches about opponents.

Following the comments, Canada offered to repatriate the waste and the Philippines said Ottawa would shoulder the expense of disposal.

Manila’s Bureau of Customs said last week the Philippines was ready to send back the trash but Canada needed several more weeks to prepare documentation.

Some 69 shipping containers of trash remain after 34 others have already been disposed of in the Philippines, the finance ministry said.

Environmental group Ecowaste Coalition offered support for the diplomatic action, but said the government could do more to combat dumping.

“If the Philippine government really wants to send an unequivocal message… it must move swiftly to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment,” the group’s national coordinator Aileen Lucero said.

The amendment is intended to protect developing countries from becoming dumping grounds for wealthy nations.

    A Canadian government source told The Globe and Mail that neither Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, nor Michael Spavor, a China-based businessman who organised trips to North Korea, have been formally charged with any crime.

“Canada strongly condemns their arbitrary arrest as we condemned their arbitrary detention on Dec. 10,” the Canadian foreign ministry said in a statement to the newspaper.

Though no link has been officially made, the detention of Spavor and Kovrig is thought to be in retaliation for Canada’s December 1 detention on a US extradition request of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei who is accused of violating Iran sanctions.

    The men were first accused of activities that “endanger China’s security” — a phrase often used by Beijing when alleging espionage.

China later announced it suspected Kovrig, who works for the International Crisis Group think tank, of spying and stealing state secrets and alleged that Spavor had provided him with intelligence.

Spying charges could expose them to tough prison sentences.

  – ‘Unacceptable’ conditions –

Both men have been denied access to lawyers and allowed only monthly consular visits. The latest such visit came earlier this week.

No details of the men’s detention or health conditions were provided due to Canadian privacy laws, but officials said they would press for further access to both detainees.

China has also never announced where the men are being held.

A group of Canadian parliamentarians had earlier complained to Chinese officials that Kovrig and Spavor have been denied access to lawyers, and remain in “completely unacceptable” detention conditions.

Meng is allowed to live in her Vancouver mansion, although her mobility is limited. She made her latest court appearance last week as she fights extradition to the United States.

She has been ordered to wear an electronic anklet and hand over her passports after being released on bail in mid-December on a Can$10 million (US$7.4 million) bond.

Two other Canadians convicted of drug trafficking, meanwhile, have been sentenced to death. Canada has called the death penalties for Fen Wei and Robert Lloyd Schellenberg “cruel and inhumane”.

Beijing also recently blocked Canadian shipments of canola and pork worth billions of dollars.

Ottawa has rallied the support of a dozen countries, including Britain, France, Germany and the US, as well as the EU, NATO and the G7, in its diplomatic feud with China.

Washington, meanwhile stepped up its battle against Huawei on Wednesday, effectively barring the company from the US market and restricting US sales to the firm.

The United States has urged allies to shun Huawei’s 5G technology, warning that it could serve the interests of Chinese intelligence services.