PHILIPPINE Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, HE Jaime Flor Cruz, is warmly welcomed by Protocol Director General Hong Lei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after presenting his credentials, February 24, 2023. Cruz succeeded the late Amb. Jose Santiago ‘Chito’ Sta. Romana, who died las April 18, 2022.
Like Sta. Romana, Cruz is among the few Filipinos with deep understanding on the culture, history, and governance of China. The two got ‘stranded’ in China after martial law was declared in the Philippines in 1972.
With his deep insight and long experience while living and working in China together with Sta. Romana as an international journalist, Cruz would play a crucial role in putting the relationship between the two countries on a more productive and stable ground (photo from Amb. Cruz’s FB page).