CRRS Canada History At a Glance

1994-2003

1994

Established in 1994, CRRS received great support from the late Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable David Lam, who later endorsed our organization. An international academic and cultural quarterly journal “Cultural China” was first published in 1994 to establish a platform of exchanging academic and cultural ideas. By encouraging and engaging global dialogues amongst literati alike, our goals were to converge opinions on the work that needed to be done to revitalize and reconstruct Chinese culture, to fulfill the goal of preserving and promoting the essence of Chinese culture and to advocate religious and cultural pluralism. Ultimately, everybody will be able to find common ground while keeping the differences and live together harmoniously in the society.

1995

In 1995, CRRS was recognized by the Canadian government as an educational and charitable organization that can issue tax exempt receipts. That same year the international forum on “The Clash of Civilizations and Cultural China” was held in Canada, which was attended by former Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable David Lam and Minister of Asia-Pacific Affairs, the Hornourable Raymond Chen.

1996

Being invited as a visiting faculty member, Dr. Leung commenced exchanges in 1996 at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and Fudan University in Shanghai. Later on he was appointed as an doctoral advisor at Sun Yat-sen University and as an overseas director “The Descendants of Yan and Huang Association”.

1997

In 1997, CRRS became the first and only Chinese-operated Non-Government Organization after the government of Canada underwent careful inspections on the financial structure and achievements of our organization. The Canadian government recognized the importance of our missions in poverty relief, education, disaster relief and aids.

1998

In 1998, supported by Prime Minister and Minister of International Cooperation, CRRS became the first Chinese-run organization to receive funding from the Canadian International Development Agency, which endorsed the collaboration with the Chinese government to promote anti-corruption culture.
In 1998, Dr. Leung was designated as a Fellow of the Canadian Chinese Academy.

1999

Recommended by Chinese Consul-General in Canada, Dr. Leung visited the Chinese State Council Information Office to express his opinions in 1999.

1999-2001

Recommended by Chinese Consul-General in Canada, Dr. Leung visited the Chinese State Council Information Office to express his opinions in 1999.

2001

Witnessing the extreme disparity between the rich and the poor, CRRS funded 200 teachers from the rural villages in Guangxi province to better their education through Distance Learning Universities. Meanwhile, funding was provided to children and youths living in poverty to return to school, in order to boost education quality in the rural villages and create new opportunities for the underprivileged.

2002

Starting from 2002, the scope of caring ministries expanded drastically to cover six counties in Guangxi, three counties in Yunnan, and Baoshan District of Shanghai, where CRRS provided education aid to the children of laborers, underprivileged children and youths. The number of students we helped had reached 5,500 between 2002 and 2010. Most of them were able to pass the entrance exams and continue their education in the universities after they graduated from high schools. Part of the aid went to the undergraduates so they could complete their university education. Among those, some became doctors, engineers, teachers, etc. and helped contribute to society.

2004－2008

2004

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs （UNDESA） invited CRRS to send a representative to attend the regional advisory conference.
“Cultural China” Quarterly was recognized by Chinese Ministry of Education as a high-standard academic publication and was listed in the Chinese Social Science Citation Index, which adheres to a rigorous academic standard and only includes 16 overseas publications.

2005

The number of rural teachers and youth sponsored in Guangxi and Yunnan reached 1,450.
Received by the Executive Deputy Minister (ministerial level) of the United Front Work Department, Zhu Weiqun, Dr. Leung expressed concerns from the overseas Chinese expatriates.
CRRS sponsored the School of Philosophy and Sociology of Lanzhou University to establish the Research Centre for Christian Culture and to explore research resources of religious cultures in the northwestern China.

2006

Dr. Leung was appointed as Visiting Professor by the Project 985 of Sichuan University.
To support the much-needed disaster relief assistance in Guangzhou province, CRRS and other overseas Chinese organizations jointly donated hundreds of thousands RMB for funding in no time.

2007

CRRS was bestowed the “China’s Outstanding Charity Contribution Award” by the China Charity Federation.
To support the children of migrant workers who were unable to attend school without a Household Registration permit, CRRS collaborated with Yang Dong elementary and high school in Shanghai to set up a vocational senior high school and offer scholarships to provide them better opportunities to attend senior high school. By 2010, many students successfully completed high school and passed the entrance examination to take adult vocational courses at Fudan University and East China University of Science and Technology.
Dr. Leung was invited by the Central United Front Work Department to attend the annual academic Conference on “Dialogue of Religions and Harmony of Societies”. He continued to take part in the conference every year and submit papers and suggestions on religion-related topics.

CRRS Hong Kong sponsored Lanzhou University to host the Academic Conference on “Dialogue of Religions and Harmony of Societies”, focusing on promoting the dialogues between Islam and Christianity and hoping, in turn, they will bring world peace.

2008

Dr. Leung was designated by the Central United Front Work Department to be the director of “The Chinese Overseas Friendship Association”.
CRRS Hong Kong and Lanzhou University jointly founded “Cultural China Scholarships” and “Cultural China Teachers’ Grants”.
CRRS Hong Kong hosted a series of seminars on the topic of “Exploring Chinese Theology”.
In response to the cold snap and blizzards wreaking havoc in China, CRRS and eleven other Canadian-Chinese organizations jointly raised $110,000 Canadian dollars in donations (about $700,000 RMB at the time) for the relief efforts. The monetary assistance was used to buy 230,000 kilograms of rice delivered to farmers in six most-affected counties in Guangxi, China.
Following the Great Wenchuan Earthquake, the Canadian Federal government relief organization and Chinese organizations collected 1.1 million Canadian dollars (about $7 million RMB at the time) in emergency relief. CRRS offered a series of spiritual reconstruction workshops counselling the survivors of the quake for three consecutive years.
In the wake of the Tibetan Riots, the “3.14 Incident”, a Canadian pro-Tibetan independence Member of Parliament submitted a bill to Parliament criticizing China’s human rights record. Dr. Leung was invited by the House Foreign Affairs Committee to testify as an expert witness on China’s human rights conditions. He submitted a report on China’s human rights, titled “Observation of the Human Rights Issue in China: Fourteen Years of Cultural Exchange and Charity Service among the Chinese” to the Committee on the state of China and detailed his experiences in the past 14 years working across the Formosa Strait. This report is a valuable reference document for the Western societies who are interested in understanding more about China.
Dr. Leung presented a Chinese article titled “Exploration on the Historical Relationship of Tibet in China” in Hong Kong and Canada stating the fact that historically Tibet was never an independent country. Later the article was translated into English, submitted to the Minister of Defence and circulated amongst the Members of Parliament in Canada. Its importance was recognized and the article was included in the reference data of the House.
“Project Shine” was launched to train Canadian youth leaders to give free English lessons to high school students in impoverished areas of China. The initiative was welcomed by the Chinese education sector. Within the two weeks of exchanging lessons, both Chinese and Canadian youth learned valuable lessons in life and grew significantly.

2009-2013

2009

CRRS Hong Kong sponsored Sichuan University to host the Academic Conference on Disaster and Religion.
CRRS held an International Conference on “Urban Development and Culture Preservation” in Canada.
Invited by the Chinese government, Dr. Leung attended the 60th anniversary ceremony of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Dr. Leung was appointed as the research fellow of the Urban Culture Research Centre of Shanghai Normal University.

2010

In support of Lanzhou University, CRRS Hong Kong funded its establishments of Research Centre for Italian Culture and the Research Centre for Christian Culture. The Italian ambassador to China went to Lanzhou to preside over the inauguration ceremony.
CRRS Hong Kong sponsored Sichuan University to host the 2nd Academic Conference on Disaster and Religion.
Three representatives from CRRS attended the closing ceremony of Shanghai World Expo 2010.
The i-course was designed to fully explore the concept in Chinese culture and Christian faith, and was lectured by Dr. Leung.
A roundtable conference on “The Rise of China: Threat or Opportunity?” was held in Canada and received a Certificate of Merit from the B.C. government.
Dr. Leung received the “Multicultural Award for Contribution” from Canadian Parliament.
“Project Salt and Light” was initiated as a collaborative program between CRRS and Carver Christian High School in Vancouver to encourage Canadian youth to achieve multicultural competence and enhance cultural ties with their peers in Hong Kong.

2011

CRRS was invited by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference to attend the National Day ceremony.
Recommended by a Standing Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, CRRS became an overseas observing member in 2012.
In collaboration with the Research Institute of Religion and Culture at Peking University, CRRS Hong Kong unfolded the “Study of Sinocization of Christianity” project.
CRRS Hong Kong held the first series of “Chinese Way of the Primordial” courses to examine what academic and cultural substance is lying beneath the Chinese religious pluralism.
CRRS organized “Cities and Cultural Heritage Forum” with Douglas College and Beijing Union University.
Dr. Leung was appointed as Visiting Professor by Canada’s Trinity Western University.
A Certificate of Merit on “Upholding Chinese Tradition” was presented to Dr. Leung by the provincial government of British Columbia.

2012

As an overseas-Chinese observing member, Dr. Leung attended the 11th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
CRRS headquarters in Vancouver established a “Caring for the Tibetan People” project to offer funding to support Tibetan senior high school education.
The Premier of British Columbia, Cristy Clark, received Dr. Leung.
In Malaysia Dr. Leung lectured on a subject that was never broached before, “The Way Christianity had taken Root in China,” which was well received by the locals.

2013

Leadership training seminar “Passing the Torch to the Next Generation” was held in order to develop the absolute best new blood of church. Six Christian leaders with professional expertise from North America shared their experience and thoughts with church leaders in Vancouver and offered an opportunity for dialogue.
Following the change of leadership in China, CRRS held a summit named “Prospects of Reform in Xi Jinping’s Era”. Guest speakers included Zhijun Zang, Director of Department of Political Science at Shanghai Fudan University and Xiaoyan Yang, Associate Dean of School of Communication and Design at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong.
Workshops of comparative religious studies promoted in Malaysia included “Comparing Christianity and Buddhism”, “The Mysteries of Practicing Divination, Fengshui and Destiny”, etc.
An international forum on “Cultural Communication and Social Ethics” was jointly hosted in Vancouver by CRRS, Chinese Communication Society and David Lam Centre for International Communication at Simon Fraser University. First-time attendees from China included scholars from Peking University and Tsinghua University.
President Leung was invited to participate in the International Forum on “Christianity and Building Social Harmony” in which he published his thesis “The Theories and Practices of How Christianity Took Root in China”. At the forum government officials recognized the positive and far-reaching influence Christianity had on Chinese society.
Dr. Leung continued his research and focused on positive Christian influences on the development of Chinese religions. He attended the High-Level Forum on “The Social Practice and Impact of Christianity on Contemporary China” and released a thesis on “The Contribution of Christianity to China’s Transition Period”.
Dr. Leung was present again at “The Third International Conference on Bioethics, Multiculturalism and Religion”

2014-2016

2014

The first CRRS International Conference and Retreat was held in Vancouver and lasted for three days. The theme of the meeting was “One Body in Christ” where all the teams received leadership training, reviewed the CRRS missions, recounted and acknowledged major achievements in the past 20 years. More importantly, more than 30 participants who were directors and staff coming from all over the globe shared their future prospects with each other.
President Leung was invited to take part in various high-level conferences in China such as “Nishan Forum on World Civilization”, “7th Beijing Forum on Human Rights” and “International Confucius Association”.
Launched in 2008, Project Shine has come to its 7th year.
The mass demolition of churches in Zhejiang had become an international focal point. President Leung responded to the incidents by submitting a letter of recommendation pleading for the Chinese government to exercise restraint and resolve the issue.
The Fifth World High-Level Forum on Chinese Academic Journals took place successfully in Vancouver organized jointly by CRRS, Chinese Academy of Social Science, and Simon Fraser University. It achieved its objective of building a bridge of academic and cultural exchange between Canada and China.
Academic publication “Cultural China” celebrated its 20th anniversary and provided its complimentary 80th issue to close to a thousand scholars from 22 Chinese provinces to raise awareness of this quarterly jounal and influence real change.

2015

Local/North America Ministries

CRRS and the Department of Asian Studies worked together to host lectures on “Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Victory of the World Anti- Fascism” delving into the characteristics and structure of the Japanese Militarism. Through reflections on historical events and scholarly analyses, these lectures evoked yearnings for upholding world order and maintaining peace from the audience. Furthermore, they reminded us to safeguard the hard-won victory, to avoid repeating the same tragedies, and to create a beautiful future for all human beings.
Two symposiums were hosted on the topic of “ISIS=jihadism=terrorism?” spoken in Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese respectively, detailing the historical encounters and conflicts between Islam and Christianity and the rise and evolution of Islamic Extremism. Participants exceeded 500 for each of the symposiums.
CRRS and the Greater Los Angeles Chinese Ministerial Association cohosted a seminar on “Peeking from the Past, Present and Future of the Middle East and Looking at the End Times”.

China Ministries

An associate professor of the School of History and Culture at Lanzhou University, Dr. Jihua Liu began his thesis in 2011 on “The Research on the Legend of A Roman Legion Settling in China” and completed it in 2015.
In October, CRRS promoted the first “University Students Exchange Program” in HK.
CRRS participated in various important international conferences: “The Fourth World High-Level Forum on Chinese Academic Journals”, “2015 Beijing Forum on Human Rights”, “Academic Symposium on Christian Culture and Chinese Contemporary Literature, “21st Century Christianity and China”, “International Academic Symposium on Sinocization of Christianity”, and “The High-Level Forum on the Social Practice and Impact of Christianity on Contemporary China”.
Dr. Leung was invited to attend the “2015 Beijing Forum on Human Rights’ to discuss the grave war crimes committed by members of the Japanese Imperial Military during the reign of Emperor Hirohito. Dr. Leung’s thesis was highly valued and he spoke at the forum amongst prime ministers, ministers and lawmakers of the participating countries. He engaged in dialogue with some attendees from various African countries on the facts that many ethnic groups fighting alongside the Allies countries were no longer valued for their contribution and their heroic deeds forgotten post-war.
Over the years CRRS and Peking University discussed and planned a Chinese theology project to publish a series of books related to the study of Sinocization of Christianity. It has finally come to fruition. This year, three books was successfully published: “Mutual Understanding and Transformation: A Dialogue Between Contemporary New Confucianism and Christianity”, “A Study of Sinocization of Christianity II” and “Christianity in Contemporary China”.

Oversea Ministries

Dr. Leung led a tour to Israeli Holy Land and Eastern Europe, taking the participants to experience Christian history and culture.
Dr. Leung spoke at summer camps and retreats in the Netherlands and Hungary where Chinese Christian participants came from many different European countries. There was another seminar in Singapore where Dr. Leung talked about the impact the new immigrants brought to the city state.
CRRS visited underprivileged students in Guangxi who were the sponsorship recipients.

Local Youth Programs

Launched in 2008, the Project Shine reached its 8th year.
“Love and Shine” was performed at Richmond Night Market in collaboration with the Sacrificium Society of Production and FM96.1 Hi-Liter radio show. The live performance relayed the message of love and was delivered through singing, drama and games. Young people shared their experience of teaching English in impoverished areas in China.
“Selfie : Leadership Training Retreat” was held the first time promoting leadership building among young people who took part in the training activities and learned to understand other people and themselves better.

2016

Local Ministries

CRRS hosted Cultural China International Academic Conference at UBC where there were 40 scholars coming from 24 universities from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and Canada attended the conference and engaged in discussions on three different themes: Postmodern Literature and Ethics, Contemporary Philosophical Issues and Cultural Regeneration and Urban Transformation.
CRRS hosted a gospel cruise trip with about 1,000 attendees from the Greater Los Angeles area and organized an on-board panel discussion on the topic of “The U.S. at a Crossroad”.
Dr. Leung accepted an invitation from 18 churches and organization to lead the Canadian East Coast Winter Camp where 4,000 people attended. He spoke at gospel camps, evangelistic meetings, seminars and also gave sermon.

Overseas Ministries

Dr. Leung lectured at a Chinese seminary in Italy where he helped the students delve into the study of how Christianity took roots in China.

China Ministries

CRRS took part in important international conferences such as Tibet Forum, International Conference on Theories and Practices of Localogy, The Fifth Forum on the Marxist Aesthetism, The Fifth World High-Level Forum on Chinese Academic Journals, The High-Level Forum on the Social Practice and Impact of Christianity on Contemporary China and Nishan Forum on World Civilization.
Dr. Leung was invited to join the CPPCC delegation in visiting Inner Mongolia.
CRRS visited the impoverished students in China sponsored by CRRS as well as monitored the progress of development of certain education projects.
In November 2016, Dr. Leung visited Beijing to take part in the Hing-Level Forum on Sinocization of Christianity and the Building of One-State Nationalism Amongst Ethnicities in China, jointly organized by Institute of World Religions and Institute of Christianity of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Religious Society of China, the two state-sanctioned Protestant church organizations Lianghui in Beijing (The National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China and the China Christian Council). The purpose of hosting this event was to promote Sinocization of Christianity in China.
Dr. Leung attended an international conference on Religion and Caring for Humanity in the National Disasters hosted by Sichuan University where they exchanged the ideas of Sinocized Christianity with the local scholars and increased their awareness of Christianity.
Over the years CRRS and Peking University had discussed and planned a Chinese theology project together to publish a series of books related to the study of Sinocization of Christianity. It has finally come to fruition. This year we have successfully published four books in this series: The Crosspoint between Christ, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism: Dialogue Between Chinese Culture and Christian Faith authored by Dr. Leung In-sing, A Study of Sinocization of Christianity III, The Sociological Study of Christianity Sinofication, and Faith and Virtue: Convergence and Transformation of Christian Ethics and Confucian Ethics.
Dr. Leung lectured and taught courses at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Yan Fook Bible Institute.
The third phase of high school student sponsorship program kicked off in Wenshan Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan province. In addition to sponsoring 50 high school students, CRRS also funded the creation of a Student Mental Health Room at the First High School in Wenshan Autonomous Prefecture to assist the school to promote mental health education and counselling. The students will be able to blossom in a sound support system.
The Yunnan university student sponsorship program sponsored minority ethnic students and the number had currently increased to 83. These students were studying at various universities across 19 provinces. Dr. Leung actively took part in supporting university graduates to organize and form a “Power Network” so participants can learn about upcoming events.

Local Youth Programs

Project “Salt and Light” is a collaborative program between CRRS and Carver Christian High School in Vancouver. It is the fourth year that our project manager, Esther Leung, took a group of Canadian eleventh graders of different cultural backgrounds to Hong Kong during spring break to go on this meaningful and illuminating tour, where students could serve and gain cross-cultural experience.
Initiated in 2008, the Project Shine reached its 9th year.
Every year Project Shine takes Canadian youths to impoverished areas in China to teach children English for free. It has seen success in the past nine years and gained great popularity amongst Chinese children. By participating in the project activities, Canadian youths understand what poverty really means and learn educational life lessons.