Michael Yang
Michael Yang (born 18 May 1974) is a Continental lawyer, author, former politician, and activist. Yang is the leader of the Democracy Party, reportedly the largest pro-democracy political organization in the United Commonwealth, and is considered one of the major leaders of the modern day Continental democracy movement.
Michael Yang | |
|---|---|
 Yang in 2019. | |
| Leader of the Democracy Party | |
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Assumed office June 8, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Emmett Harold |
| Member of the Manhattan Board of Estimate | |
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In office June 1, 2003 – April 4, 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Antonio Guereza |
| Succeeded by | Wilma Brown-Stewart |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
18 May 1974 New York City, New York, Congregationalist States, United Commonwealth |
| Political party | Democracy Party (2012–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
 Continentalist Party (1999–2010) |
| Spouse(s) | Alessandra Moretti (m. 2001) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Columbia University |
Yang was born in Queens, New York City to immigrant parents from China. He attended Columbia University, graduating in 1998 as a valedictorian and with a degree in law. In 1999, Yang became a public attorney in Manhatten and represented clients who alleged labor violations against their employers. A member of the Continentalist Party, Yang grew a political following for his moderate stances and for his charismatic persona. In 2003, Yang was appointed by local party leadership to the Manhatten Board of Estimate as a representative of the Continentalist Party. He became disillusioned with the Continentalist Party and Landonism during his time on the board of estimate, and frequent disagreements between himself, his colleagues, and local party leadership led to his resignation in 2009. Yang publicly left the Continentalist Party in 2010 and in the same year joined the Continental democracy movement, advocating for the restoration of "true and free democracy" in the United Commonwealth.
Yang quickly became a rising star within the democracy movement. His charismatic persona and legitimacy as a former public official revitalized the declining democracy movement, encouraging greater active membership. In 2012, Yang joined the Democracy Party, the largest pro-democracy organization in the United Commonwealth according to investigative reports. In 2014, Yang was arrested for "inciting hostility" and "encouraging violence" after calling for the "criminals responsible" for the 1979 Times Square protests and massacre to "face the consequences of their actions". He was sentenced to one year in prison and subsequent community service. While in prison, Yang was elected as leader of the Democracy Party. After leaving prison, Yang continued his pro-democracy efforts, organizing a number of notable public demonstrations from 2015 to 2018, many of which were quickly shut down by Continental authorities.
In 2018, Yang and his family fled the United Commonwealth after he was charged with "subversion of state power" and corruption. Both charges were made with little evidence and have been internationally condemned as solely politically motivated. Yang continues to led the Democracy Party while in exile, and has advocated for greater pressure for democratic reform in the United Commonwealth amongst the international community, particularly with the Conference of American States. Since entering exile, Yang was the target of assassination attempts in both 2020 and 2022, and some members of his family were the targets of an attempted kidnapping in 2021, all of which Yang accuses the Continental government for organizing.
Early life and career
Michael Yang was born on May 18, 1974 in Queens, New York City. His parents immigrated to the United Commonwealth from China in the early 1960s and met while attending university. Both of Yang's parents were strong adherents to Marxist-Landonism. His father was an active member in the New York City Continentalist Party and served as a member of the party's executive committee during Yang's youth. His mother was an active member of the TBD, the women's wing of the national Continentalist Party and had taught at NYU as a professor in Landonism. Yang was the second child and only son of his parents, having an older sister, and spent his childhood and adolescents years growing up in Queens. According to Yang in his autobiography, he had no "stable relationship" with his parents and especially despised his father, who he claimed neglected his duties as a parent.
Yang was a member of the Continentalist Youth League and the Young Mountaineers before joining the Crimson Guard during his later high school years. Yang attended a number of elementary and middle schools before attending Rupert Gardner High School from 1988 to 1992. In high school, Yang was apart of a number of after school activities, ranging from sports to after school clubs. He graduated from Rupert Gardner High School in 1992 and attended Columbia University from late 1992 to early 1998. At Columbia University, Yang met and befriended Alessandra Moretti. The two quickly formed a romantic relationship and would eventually marry. Yang studied {[w|law}} at Columbia and attended lectures on political science, economics, and philosophy. After graduating from Columbia, Yang cut off communication with his father and mother, while maintaining his relationship with his sister, who Yang claims acted as the "middle man" between himself and his father.
In 1998, three months after graduating, Yang became a public attorney in the Manhattan Exclusive Economic Zone, representing workers who had alleged workplace abuses or labor violations against their employers. During his nine year tenure as a public attorney, Yang represented a number of workers in high profile cases, such as TBD, in which he successfully represented three construction workers who had claimed to have experienced unfair working hours. While serving as an attorney, Yang involved himself in local politics, getting involved in the local Continentalist Party. As a Continentalist, Yang identified himself with the "moderate" wing of the party, and had long opposed the authoritarian and militarist influences within the party, which Yang claims was a product of his father's political views. Yang gained a public following after his speech at the 2002 New York Continentalist Party Convention.
Politics
Manhattan Board of Estimate
Continentalist Party
Democracy movement
Political positions
Politically, Yang has identified as a supporter for the "establishment of Continental democracy". Since entering the Continental democracy movement, Yang has stressed that the movement should be a "coalition of all democratic ideologies" and should not be "solely restricted to a single ideology". As leader of the Democracy Party, Yang has promoted both left-leaning and right-leaning policies and members, and has created a "council of diverse beliefs" that will help "restore democracy in the United Commonwealth".
Other than pro-democracy stances, Yang has rarely expressed his personal political beliefs, largely due to his wish to be viewed as a uniting figure for all sides of the political spectrum that support Continental democracy. However, Yang has been classified by political observers as a social democrat and progressive, owing to his work on the Manhattan Board of Estimates to protected workers' rights and for his support for abortion, gay marriage, and economic regulations. However, in the United Commonwealth, Yang was viewed as an "extreme moderate", known for his support for "sensible de-regulation" and the de-militarization of Continental society.
Yang supports the establishment of a "multi-party democratic system" in the United Commonwealth, supporting the abolition of the de facto one-party rule of the Continentalist Party. While partially inspired by the constitution of the pre-Landonist United Commonwealth, Yang supports the creation of a new constitution that would "better reflect the social, economic, and political wants of the Continental people". While an opponent of the Landonist economic system, Yang has opposed the idea of abolishing institutions in the United Commonwealth that benefit the people. Yang supports re-unification with the Antilles, but has rejected the idea of the Antillean-based United Commonwealth of America being restored on the American Mainland, believing that the Antilles should be re-integrated as states of the mainland democratic United Commonwealth.
Personal life
While attending Columbia University, Yang met and befriended Alessandra Moretti. The two quickly began a romantic relationship and married in 2001. The couple have two sons. Yang identifies as "more spiritual than religious" and has declined to identify with any major religion. However, he is raising his sons in accordance with his wife's Roman Catholicism. Prior to 2018, the Yang family resided in an apartment in Manhattan. After fleeing the United Commonwealth, the family has resided in Fort Augustus in Manitoba.
Assassination and kidnapping attempts
In 2020 and 2021, Yang was the target of two assassination attempts. In 2020, while attending a party at a local restaurant in Fort Augustus, a man armed with a pistol entered the restaurant and fired three shots at Yang before being tackled by Yang's bodyguards. All three shots missed Yang, with one instead hitting a server in the hand. The server made a full recover. The man, identified as 41-year old Marcus Dupont, was arrested and charged with attempted murder. It was revealed by authorities that Dupont, who suffered from schizophrenia, believed that Yang was attempting to "purchase Manitoba from the British crown" and that God had instructed him to eliminate Yang.
A second assassination attempt occurred in 2022, while Yang was attending a protest against Continental influence in Sierran elections in San Francisco City. An unknown assailant, later identified as 16-year old Robert Sawyer, shot six shots towards Yang, with one grazing his right arm. After the shooting, Yang was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries. Sawyer, devout adherent to Landonism and supporter of the United Commonwealth, had previously expressed his hatred for Yang and had called for his assassination on a number of social media platforms, including Threddit and Bubbler. Before his assassination attempt, Sawyer had been suspended from his high school after making threats directed at classmates who had attended protests against Continental interference.
In 2021, four men were arrested after breaking into Yang's home in Fort Augustus. At the time of the break-in, Yang and his family had traveled to San Diego for a vacation. After an investigation, authorities revealed that the four men had planned to kidnap one of Yang's children in order to extort money from him. One of the men, revealed to be Sierran national Jean-Pierre Lavigne, had ties to the Provisional Sierran Republican Army, though he was disowned by the militant group weeks before the kidnapping attempt.
Yang, without evidence, has claimed the Continental government was behind his assassination and kidnapping attempts and has increased his security personnel as a result.