Jaime FlorCruz

His Excellency
Jaime FlorCruz
FlorCruz in 2023
Ambassador of the Philippines to China
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 24, 2023
PresidentBongbong Marcos
Preceded byJose Santiago Santa Romana
Personal details
Born
Jaime Adriano FlorCruz

(1951-04-05) April 5, 1951 (age 73)
Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines
Alma materPeking University (B.A.)
OccupationJournalist, columnist, publisher, news publisher

Jaime Adriano FlorCruz (born April 5, 1951) is a Filipino journalist and diplomat with a career spanning more than four decades, including a tenure as CNN's Beijing bureau chief. He has reported on a wide range of topics in China, including the country's political and economic developments, as well as its cultural and social issues. In 2022, he was named as the Philippines Ambassador to China.

Early life and education

FlorCruz was born in Malolos, Bulacan, in 1951.[1]

In 1971, he was one of 14 young activists fighting against President Ferdinand Marcos and defied a government ban against travel to China by visiting the country for a three-week study tour. A bombing at Plaza Miranda on August 21, 1971, put the group on a list of "subverisives" causing FlorCruz to self-exile in China.[2] Unable to be admitted to a university, Florcruz worked on farm in Hunan instead for several months, during which he learned basic Mandarin.[2] Beginning in late 1972, he worked on a fishing boat in Yantai.[2][3] After leaving the boat in 1974, he studied Mandarin intensively for two years in Beijing and eventually enrolled in Chinese history in Peking University as part of the class of 1977.[2][3] While working and studying in China, he gained attention among his peers for his ability to play the guitar.[4]

FlorCruz was able to reunited with his parents in 1978, when they visited China.[4]

Career

In 1982, he joined Time Magazine's Beijing bureau, and served as Beijing bureau chief from 1990 to 2000, where he covered important stories such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the 1991 suicide of Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong's widow.[3] During the Tiananmen Square protests, Florcruz drove activists Liu Xiaobo and Hou Dejian to a safe house.[5]

In 2000, he was the Edward R. Morrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the first non-American journalist chosen for the fellowship.[6] Afterwards, he joined CNN as a Beijing-based correspondent. He covered a wide range of stories, including the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.[2]

In 2022, he published his memoir Class of ’77: How My Classmates Changed China, documenting his career.[7]

That same year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named FlorCruz as the envoy from the Philippines to China[3] and was confirmed on December 7, 2022 as Ambassador to China.[8][9]

Personal life

FlorCruz and his wife Ana met in Manila[4] and lived in Los Angeles, California.[3]

References

  1. ^ Pedrosa, Carmen N. "An exile that became an opportunity". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Four decades in China: Jaime FlorCruz signs off". CNN. 2014-12-31. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  3. ^ a b c d e Robles, Raissa (2022-11-09). "Former Filipino exile who joined the Cultural Revolution to be envoy to Beijing". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  4. ^ a b c Cruz, Neni Sta Romana (2022-08-01). "Jaime FlorCruz: 'I am a Filipino who found myself in troubled China…'". The Diarist.ph. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  5. ^ FlorCruz, Jaime A. (2014-06-04). "Tiananmen 25 years on: The day I drove famed hunger strikers to safety". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  6. ^ "'Begin With the Young Generation' to Sustain Future Foreign Correspondence". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  7. ^ Jakes, Susan (2023-01-06). "The Class of '77". ChinaFile. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  8. ^ "CA approves new PH ambassador to China". ABS-CBN News. Dec 7, 2022.
  9. ^ Palatino, Mong (2022-12-14). "Philippines Confirms New Envoy to China". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2023-05-25.