Friendship forged in the furnace of turmoil

Returns to Chongqing

In 2005 Stephen returned to Chongqing to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the victory of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

"I spent the first 13 years of my life in Chongqing, the city which I regard as my hometown," he told China Daily. "It has gone through dramatic changes during the past decades. I feel happy for my people."

Donald Willmott, son of the Canadian missionary Leslie Earl Willmott, a friend of James Endicott, was born in 1925 in Renshou, Sichuan.

During China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Donald, whose Chinese name was Yun Da-le, worked in the intelligence branch of the US Army and took part in a secret left-wing discussion group along with his parents.

After the war he gained a PhD and taught sociology and Eastern studies in Canada, and he retired in 1995. He was a co-founder of the Toronto chapter of the Canada China Friendship Society, in which he was an active member for many years.

According to a study titled Memorial University's First Sociologist, Donald Willmott and his family's involvement in the social gospel movement, his childhood in China and his American education in sociology shaped his outlook on life and his approach to sociology.

"In his heart, China was always his home," the study said, "In all his life he has worked to carry on the Canada-China friendship to promote peace in the world."

Minden calls these Canadian men and women "scientific missionaries", their powerful vision being the revitalization of China and their legacy passed on to Chinese students being the essence of the collaboration between China and the West.

"The missionaries' story is about the foundation of Canada-China relations," she said.