Jaime FlorCruz was a student leader in the Philippines when he arrived in 1971 to take a look at Mao's "New China". On the same day, the Marcos government declared a state of emergency and Jaime was stuck, if he returned he could be jailed, so he stayed in China, and ended up being one of the famous Class of '77, the first intake of students into prestigious Peking University after a decade of chaos. His classmates included many of the people who have remade China since, including the current premier Li Keqiang, former high-flyer and now imprisoned Bo Xilai and various entrepreneurs, dissidents and scientists. It was the core of the new elite and Jaime was at the center of it. He went on to become one of the top foreign correspondents in China, as bureau chief for both TIME magazine and CNN. The story of how he established himself in China is a unique reflection on the momentous changes that have shaken this country in the past five decades.
