Yuan Yang (politician)

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Yuan Yang
MP
楊緣
Member of Parliament
for Earley and Woodley
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byNew seat
Majority848 (1.9%)
Personal details
Born1990 (age 33–34)
Ningbo, Zhejiang, China[1]
Political partyLabour
EducationOxford University (BA); London School of Economics (MSc).
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
Known forRethinking Economics, Britain's first Chinese-born MP
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese楊緣
Simplified Chinese杨缘

Yuan Yang (Chinese: 杨缘; born 1990[2]) is a British-Chinese politician and journalist. She has served as a Member of Parliament for Earley and Woodley since July 2024. She was formerly the UK-based Europe-China correspondent for the Financial Times. Yuan is the first Chinese-born British citizen 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 China, growing up in Sichuan in the southwest of the country.[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] Yang studied for a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 2011 with first-class honours.[6] 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.[7][8][9] 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."[10]

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 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.[11]

She began her journalism career as a Marjorie Dean intern in the economics section of The Economist magazine.[12]

In 2016, she returned to China as an economics correspondent for the Financial Times.[13] 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.[8]

In May 2024, Yang's book[2] 'Private Revolutions' was published by Bloomsbury Publishing.[14] 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[15] in the 2024 general election.[16] Her family had lived in the area for 14 years prior to her selection as a candidate.[17] 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.[17]

In July 2024, she won the newly created constituency with 18,209 votes, beating the Conservative party candidate who received 17,361 votes,[18] 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.[19]

Yang is a Quaker,[20] she was sworn in by taking a solemn affirmation on 10 July.[21]

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  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. ^ "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.
  8. ^ a b "Yuan Yang, the British-Chinese journalist witnessing the decline of press freedom in China". Yahoo Finance. 23 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Yuan Yang". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "Internships". Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  13. ^ "'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.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "Yang Yang PPC – Earley and Woodley CLP". Earley and Woodley Labour CLP. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Yuan Yang selected as Labour candidate for new Earley and Woodley MP seat". Reading Chronicle. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  17. ^ a b "VOTE 2024: Earley and Woodley Labour candidate is 'honoured' to be standing in the new seat – Wokingham.Today".
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ Tse, Hans (5 July 2024). "Yuan Yang becomes UK's the first Chinese-born lawmaker". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  20. ^ Yang, Yuan (2 July 2024). "Democracy begins with us". New Statesman. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  21. ^ @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.
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