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Joshua Wong, who is columnist for WELT AM SONNTAG, is currently serving a 13.5 month prison sentence;
a verdict that human rights defenders and political observers see as unfair and political.
The indictment against him and 46 other people is the largest police action to date based on the internationally criticized security law.
Wong and his colleagues campaign for democracy and human rights in their home country Hong Kong.
So far, however, Wong had not been sentenced under the National Security Law.
This Chinese law allows the state to take action against activists at will.
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The law, as harsh as it was vaguely worded, was enacted by China's communist leadership in response to the ongoing protests and calls for more democracy in Hong Kong.
It is directed against activities that Beijing sees as subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial.
Violations can result in life imprisonment.
The law is the most far-reaching interference in Hong Kong's autonomy to date and gives China's state security extensive powers in the independent territory.
From the point of view of the critics, it is the end of the principle “one country, two systems”, according to which Hong Kong has been ruled autonomously under Chinese sovereignty since 1997, with far-reaching freedoms for its seven million inhabitants.
The former British crown colony had been granted special rights for 50 years when it was handed over to China, including freedom of expression and assembly.