Annual Report: China Committee on Religion and Peace (CCRP) 2015-2016

Over the past year, China Committee on Religion and Peace (CCRP) upheld its principles, took account of its own characteristics, abided by the purposes and guidelines of Asian Conference of Religions for Peace (ACRP), united Chinese believers and cooperated with religious organizations, in order to maintain good inter-faith relations and contribute to inter-faith dialogue and a harmonious society.
1.   An Overview of CCRP’s work in 2015

(1) Organizing the peace prayer to commemorate the 70^th anniversary of victory of Chinese people’s resistance against Japanese aggression and world anti-Fascist war, expressing the goodwill of Chinese religious community to love the country and faiths.

(2) Participating in the activities within ACRP and RfP’s framework and supporting them in inter-faith peace actions.

(3) Hosting delegations from WCRP Japan, Korean Conference of Religions and Peace (KCRP) and Religions for Peace-Italy; meeting Religions for Peace-UK and Religions for Peace-Mexico when visiting the two countries, in order to strengthen friendly exchanges, enhance mutual understanding and develop friendship.

(4) Participating in post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal, mobilizing religious groups to donate money and goods to express the care for Nepalis from Chinese religious community.

2.   Highlights of 2015

The peace prayer to commemorate the 70^th anniversary of victory of Chinese people’s resistance against Japanese aggression and world anti –Fascist war is an important event organized by CCRP in 2015. On the theme of “Remembering History, Mourning the Revolutionary Martyrs, Cherishing Peace and Making the Future”, CCRP called on religious groups to organize peace prayers and worked closely with them to organize other events. The national religious groups echoed CCRP’s proposals passionately. Chinese Buddhist, Taoist, Islamist, Catholic and Christian organizations held different forms of commemorating and praying events. It is worth mentioning that the Buddhist Association of China and Chinese Taoist Association respectively invited Buddhist and Taoist representatives from both sides of the Taiwan Strait as well as from Hong Kong and Macau, as a gesture to extend the goodwill of Chinese religious community to love the country and faiths and maintain world peace. On 4^th September, 2015, H.E.Mr. Du Qinglin and H.E. Mr. Qi Xuchun, Vice Chairpersons of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) met the religious representatives from the peace prayer.

3.   Efforts to Implement ACRP’s Strategic Action Plan

CCRP will continue to conduct friendly exchanges with foreign religious and peace organizations, actively participate in ACRP and RFP-International’s activities and support their work; promote harmonious co-existence between five major religions in China, guide believers towards properly understanding and spreading the conception of a harmonious society, and contribute to national unity, ethnic solidarity, social stability and world peace.

4.   Recommendations for Implementing ACRP’s Strategic Action Plan

The implementation should observe ACRP’s principles, respect the independence, initiative and characteristics of each national chapter, coordinate their resources and motivate them.