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Yuan Yang (politician)

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang (杨).
Yuan Yang
MP
杨缘
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Earley and Woodley
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byConstituency created
Majority848 (1.9%)
Personal details
Born1990 (age 33–34)
Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
Political partyLabour
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford (BA)
London School of Economics (MSc)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese楊緣
Simplified Chinese杨缘
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYáng yuán

Yuan Yang (Chinese: 杨缘; born 1990)[1] is a British-Chinese Labour Party politician, economist and journalist serving as Member of Parliament for Earley and Woodley since 2024.

Yang was formerly the UK-based Europe-China correspondent for the Financial Times. She is the first Chinese-born Briton to be elected to the UK Parliament, and the second of Chinese ethnicity after Alan Mak.[citation needed]

Early life and education

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Yang was born in Ningbo in China,[2] growing up in the southwestern Sichuan province.[3] She was raised by her maternal grandparents in a work unit (danwei).[4] At the age of four, she moved to the north of England with her parents - moving between Manchester and Leeds.[3] Yang became "very passionate about writing" as a child, and explained that her passion was "encouraged by my teachers and by a group called The Yorkshire Writing Squad that I joined as a teenager".[3]

Yang was educated at the fee-paying Bradford Grammar School, graduating in 2008.[5] She studied for a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 2011 with first-class honours.[6] She was the sabbatical Women’s Officer in the Oxford Student Union.[7]

In 2008 amid the 2007–2008 financial crisis, she co-founded Rethinking Economics, a non-profit campaign that Yang described as coming from the belief that "students should be able to choose among different schools of thought" with regards to economics education.[8][9][10] Yang expressed the hope that the campaign would provide a space for students wanting to address "real world economic issues, broader questions of economic justice and reforming the real economy."[11]

Yang attended the London School of Economics from 2012-2013, studying for an MSc in Economics. Yang studied abroad at Peking University in 2013 as part of a Chinese government sponsored programme.[3]

Journalism career

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In a 2021 interview with Quartz, Yang noted that she initially intended to become a poet but pivoted to journalism by accident.[12]

She began her journalism career as a Marjorie Dean intern in the economics section of The Economist magazine.[13]

In 2016, she returned to China as an economics correspondent for the Financial Times.[14] She has served as deputy Beijing bureau chief for the FT, and covered China's technology sector and economy. Yang is also a regular contributor to BBC News.[9]

In May 2024, Yang's book[1] Private Revolutions was published by Bloomsbury Publishing.[15] The book is about the coming of age of four women born in China in the 1980s and 1990s, in a society about to change beyond recognition.

Political career

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In December 2023, Yang was announced as the Labour Party candidate for Earley and Woodley[16] in the 2024 general election.[17] Her family had lived in the area for 14 years prior to her selection as a candidate.[18] Yang explained that part of her motivation for standing as a candidate derived from witnessing "the damage austerity has done to our community" in the area.[18]

In July 2024, she won the newly created constituency with 18,209 votes, beating the Conservative party candidate who received 17,361 votes,[19] and becoming the UK's first Chinese-born MP. Before she was an MP, Yang backed the rights of Hongkongers in the United Kingdom and was critical of the Chinese government's 2020 Hong Kong national security law.[20]

As Yang is a Quaker,[21] she was sworn in to parliament by taking a solemn affirmation on 10 July 2024.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b Yang, Yuan (9 May 2024). "Private Revolutions". Bloomsbury Publishing. Bloomsbury Publishing. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  2. ^ Patterson, Christina (19 May 2024). "Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang review — growing up in modern China". The Times. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Timsit, Annabelle (23 August 2021). "Yuan Yang, the British-Chinese journalist witnessing the decline of press freedom in China". Quartz. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  4. ^ Eaton, George (22 May 2024). "Labour's Yuan Yang: "There is deep class anxiety in China"". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  5. ^ Alred, Jessica. "Yuan Yang". Bradford Grammar School. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Annual Record" (PDF). Balliol College Annual Record. Balliol College. p. 100. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  7. ^ "The former student leaders entering Parliament". Wonkhe. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Students weigh the value of new economics course". Financial Times. 10 April 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Yuan Yang, the British-Chinese journalist witnessing the decline of press freedom in China". Yahoo Finance. 23 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Yuan Yang". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Interview with Yuan Yang on Rethinking Economics and WEA's Young Economists Network (YEN) | World Economics Association". www.worldeconomicsassociation.org. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  12. ^ Timsit, Annabelle (23 August 2021). "Yuan Yang, the British-Chinese journalist witnessing the decline of press freedom in China". Quartz. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Internships". Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  14. ^ "'I am an expat in the country I was born in'". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Bloomsbury wins four-way auction for 'major talent' Yuan Yang". Book Seller. 8 February 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Yang Yang PPC – Earley and Woodley CLP". Earley and Woodley Labour CLP. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Yuan Yang selected as Labour candidate for new Earley and Woodley MP seat". Reading Chronicle. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  18. ^ a b "VOTE 2024: Earley and Woodley Labour candidate is 'honoured' to be standing in the new seat – Wokingham.Today".
  19. ^ "General Election 2024: Labour's Yuan Yang wins Earley & Woodley seat". Wokingham Today. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  20. ^ Tse, Hans (5 July 2024). "Yuan Yang becomes UK's the first Chinese-born lawmaker". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  21. ^ Yang, Yuan (2 July 2024). "Democracy begins with us". New Statesman. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  22. ^ @YuanfenYang (10 July 2024). "I was 'sworn in' to Parliament this morning, so now our new constituency of Earley, Woodley, Shinfield and Whitley has its first ever fully-fledged MP! This is just the start – over the summer I'll be hiring for my constituency office & scouting out surgery venues. Get in touch! [Media]" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Further reading

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