Jian Yang (; born October 1962) is a
Chinese New Zealander
Chinese New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Hainamana o Aotearoa; ) or Sino-New Zealanders are New Zealanders of Chinese ancestry. The largest subset of Asian New Zealanders, many of the Chinese immigrants came from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ...
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
academic, politician and a former member of the
New Zealand House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...
. Before moving to New Zealand, he was a member of the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
and worked for the
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
, including training linguists to
intercept foreign communications. He is a member of the
National Party and was a National MP from 2011 until the
2020 general election, when he retired.
Several news outlets reported in 2021 that his retirement from Parliament came after intelligence agencies flagged concerns about his relationship with the Chinese Government, and was arranged as part of a deal between Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
and Opposition Leader
Todd Muller
Todd Michael Muller (; born 23 December 1968) is a New Zealand politician who served as the Leader of the New Zealand National Party and the Leader of the Opposition from 22 May to 14 July 2020.
Muller entered Parliament at the 2014 general el ...
that also involved Labour MP
Raymond Huo
Raymond Huo (; born 1964) is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2020. He was first elected in as the New Zealand Labour Party's first MP of Chinese descent. He was the third Chinese New ...
leaving Parliament for the same reason.
Early life
Yang grew up in
Jiangxi Province
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into hi ...
in
southern China
South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...
. He earned his
MA and
PhD in international relations from the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
.
[
In 1999 Yang joined the ]University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
as a Senior Lecturer in Political Studies. He was granted New Zealand citizenship on 14 June 2004.[
]
Member of Parliament
Yang was ranked at 36 on the National Party list for the 2011 New Zealand general election
The 2011 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 26 November 2011 to determine the membership of the 50th New Zealand Parliament.
One hundred and twenty-one MPs were elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives, 70 from sing ...
. He was the highest ranked new candidate on the list and was seen as a replacement for Pansy Wong
Pansy Yu Fong Wong (; born 1955) is a former New Zealand politician. She was New Zealand's first Asian MP, serving as a member of parliament for the National Party from 1996 to 2011. She was also New Zealand's first Asian Cabinet Minister, se ...
, a Chinese MP who had resigned since the previous election.
Yang was re-elected on the party list in 2014 and 2017. During his parliamentary career, Yang was the deputy chair of the Health select committee from 2013 to 2014, the chair of the Education and Science committee from 2014 to 2017 and the chair of Governance and Administration committee from 2017 to 2020. He was additionally appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities in 2017 and the National Party opposition spokesperson for statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
from 2017 to 2020.
In 2019, it was reported that Yang organised a meeting between National Party leader Simon Bridges
Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the to ...
and Guo Shengkun
Guo Shengkun (; born 16 October 1954) is a retired Chinese politician and business executive. He was the Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party, a member of the CCP Politburo, and a secreta ...
, the head of the Chinese Communist Party secret police during a visit to China.
While he was initially re-selected as a National Party list candidate in March 2020 for that year's general election, Yang later announced his retirement from politics following renewed pressure from New Zealand First
New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...
MP Winston Peters
Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...
over his alleged links to Chinese military intelligence.
It was later reported that his retirement from Parliament came as the result of a secret deal between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Opposition Leader Todd Muller after intelligence agencies raised concerns about his and Labour MP Raymond Huo's relationships with the Chinese Government. According to reports, the two leaders arranged for both Jian and Huo to leave Parliament at the 2020 election "with a minimum of fuss".
Foreign agent allegations
On 13 September 2017 accusations were raised in the media that Yang taught English to Chinese spies in the 1980s and 1990s. Yang admitted he had a background as a civilian, or non-ranking, officer in the Chinese military. In response to the accusations, the National Party released a copy of Yang's CV from 2012, which mentioned his time at the Air Force Engineering College and Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
People's Liberation Army University of Foreign Languages. The ''Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' says the Foreign Languages Institute is part of China's military intelligence apparatus run by the People's Liberation Army, training linguists to intercept foreign communications; Yang is also a graduate of this same institution. It was also reported that Yang attracted the attention of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS or SIS; mi, Te Pā Whakamarumaru) is New Zealand's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for providing information and advising on matters including national security (incl ...
three years prior to these revelations. Yang was a lecturer at the Foreign Language Institute and his immigration file shows he taught the English language and American studies. Yang claimed he taught his students to simply monitor communications, rather than carry out "the physical act of spying". He conceded he could be seen as having taught spies. ''The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'' later reported that Yang did not disclose his links to the schools in his citizenship applications and instead substituted "partner" universities.
Yang also confirmed that he had been a member of the Chinese Communist Party but claimed to be inactive since moving to New Zealand in 1994.
In late June 2020, Yang came under further criticism from media and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters for refusing to give English-language interviews since the spy allegations surfaced and only granting interviews to Chinese-language media. He then announced his retirement from Parliament, reportedly as a result of a deal between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Opposition Leader Todd Muller
Todd Michael Muller (; born 23 December 1968) is a New Zealand politician who served as the Leader of the New Zealand National Party and the Leader of the Opposition from 22 May to 14 July 2020.
Muller entered Parliament at the 2014 general el ...
after intelligence agencies raised concerns about his and Labour MP Raymond Huo
Raymond Huo (; born 1964) is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2020. He was first elected in as the New Zealand Labour Party's first MP of Chinese descent. He was the third Chinese New ...
's relationships with the Chinese Government.
See also
* Pierre Yang (a similar case in Australia)
References
External links
Profile
on National party website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Jian
Living people
New Zealand National Party MPs
New Zealand list MPs
Academic staff of the University of Auckland
1962 births
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand political philosophers
Chinese emigrants to New Zealand
21st-century New Zealand politicians
Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election
People's Liberation Army personnel
People with acquired New Zealand citizenship
Foreign-born New Zealand politicians