Mainland Affairs Council

Mainland Affairs Council
Mainland Affairs Council
Traditional Chinese	大陸委員會
Simplified Chinese	大陆委员会
Literal meaning	Mainland Committee
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Dàlù Wěiyuánhuì
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳ	Thai-liu̍k Vî-yèn-fi
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Tāi-lio̍k Úi-oân-hōe
Tâi-lô	Tāi-lio̍k Úi-uân-hūe

Mainland Affairs Council
大陸委員會; Dàlù Wěiyuánhuì (Mandarin); Thai-liu̍k Vî-yèn-fi (Hakka)
Agency overview
Formed	August 1988 (as Inter-Agency Mainland Affairs Committee); 28 January 1991 (as MAC)
Preceding agency	Department of Unification (1957-1988);
Jurisdiction	Republic of China
Headquarters	Zhongzheng, Taipei, Taiwan
Ministers responsible	Chiu Tai-san, Minister; Chiu Chui-cheng, Lee Li-chen, Wu Mei-hung, Deputy Ministers;
Parent agency	Executive Yuan
Child agency	Straits Exchange Foundation;
Website	www.mac.gov.tw

25°02′33″N 121°31′11″E / 25.04250°N 121.51972°E / 25.04250; 121.51972

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the Cross-Strait relations policy which targets mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.^[2]

The MAC's counterpart body in the People's Republic of China is the Taiwan Affairs Office. Both states officially claim each other's territory; however the Republic of China controls only Taiwan and Penghu as well as surrounding islands, and therefore is usually known as "Taiwan", sometimes referred to as the "Free Area" of the Republic of China by the Constitution of the Republic of China. The People's Republic of China controls mainland China as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and other islands and is therefore usually known simply as "China". Therefore, the affairs related to the PRC belongs to the MAC, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The council plays an important role in setting policy and development of Cross-Strait relations and advising the central government.^[2] The agency funds and indirectly administers the Straits Exchange Foundation which is the official intermediary with the PRC. It is administered by a cabinet level Minister. The current Minister is Chiu Tai-san.

History

In November 1987, relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have improved considerably after ROC government began to allow family-related visits to mainland China. The Executive Yuan therefore established the Inter-Agency Mainland Affairs Committee in August 1988 as a taskforce to handle mainland-related affairs among the authorities. In April 1990, the ROC government drafted the Organization Act for the Mainland Affairs Council to strengthen mainland China policy making and to enhance policy making efficiency. The third reading of the act was passed by the Legislative Yuan on 18 January 1991. On 28 January 1991, the act was promulgated by President Lee Teng-hui thus officially authorized the Mainland Affairs Council to be the agency for the overall planning and handling of affairs towards mainland China.^[1]^[2] In 2017, some of the responsibilities of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) were absorbed into the MAC's Department of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, creating the expanded Department of Hong Kong, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs.^[3]

In 2024, the MAC banned Taiwanese citizens from working at Confucius Institutes, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), the All-China Youth Federation, and the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots due to national security concerns.^[4]

Organizational structure

The agency is organized in the following departments:^[5]

Internal departments

Department of Policy Planning
Department of Cultural and Educational Affairs
Department of Economic Affairs
Department of Legal Affairs
Department of Hong Kong, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs
Department of Information and Liaison

Offices

Secretariat
Personnel Office
Accounting Office
Civil Servant Ethics Office
Information Management

Others

List of MAC heads

Chiu Tai-san, the incumbent Minister of MAC.

Non-partisan/ unknown Kuomintang (Nationalist) Democratic Progressive Party Taiwan Solidarity Union

No.	Name	Term of Office		Days	Political Party	Premier
1	Shih Chi-yang (施啟揚)	7 February 1991	31 May 1991	113	Kuomintang	Hau Pei-tsun
2	Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝)	1 June 1991	14 December 1994	1292	Kuomintang	Hau Pei-tsun Lien Chan
3	Vincent Siew (蕭萬長)	15 December 1994	3 December 1995	353	Kuomintang	Lien Chan
—	Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉)	3 December 1995	27 February 1996	86	Kuomintang	Lien Chan
4	Chang King-yuh (張京育)	28 February 1996	31 January 1999	1068	Kuomintang	Lien Chan Vincent Siew
5	Su Chi (蘇起)	1 February 1999	19 May 2000	473	Kuomintang	Vincent Siew
6	Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)	20 May 2000	19 May 2004	1460	Independent	Tang Fei Chang Chun-hsiung I Yu Shyi-kun
7	Joseph Wu (吳釗燮)	20 May 2004	10 April 2007	1055	Democratic Progressive Party	Yu Shyi-kun Frank Hsieh Su Tseng-chang I
8	Chen Ming-tong (陳明通)	10 April 2007	19 May 2008	405	Democratic Progressive Party	Su Tseng-chang I Chang Chun-hsiung II
9	Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛)	20 May 2008	28 September 2012	1592	Taiwan Solidarity Union	Liu Chao-shiuan Wu Den-yih Sean Chen
10	Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦)	28 September 2012	16 February 2015	871	Kuomintang	Sean Chen Jiang Yi-huah Mao Chi-kuo
11	Andrew Hsia (夏立言)	16 February 2015	19 May 2016	458	Kuomintang	Mao Chi-kuo Chang San-cheng
12	Katharine Chang (張小月)	20 May 2016	26 February 2018	647	Independent	Lin Chuan William Lai
—	Lin Cheng-yi (林正義) as acting	26 February 2018	19 March 2018	21	Independent	William Lai
(8)	Chen Ming-tong (陳明通)	19 March 2018	23 February 2021	1072	Democratic Progressive Party	William Lai Su Tseng-chang II
13	Chiu Tai-san (邱太三)	23 February 2021	20 May 2024	1182	Democratic Progressive Party	Su Tseng-chang II Chen Chien-jen
14	Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正)	20 May 2024	Incumbent	162	Democratic Progressive Party	Cho Jung-tai

References

^ ^a ^b "Mainland Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan)". 22 February 2017. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Chi, Su (2009). "Conciliation in cross-strait relations". Taiwan's relations with Mainland China. London and New York: Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-415-46454-3. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
^ "Taiwan calls time on Mongolia and Tibet affairs commission". South China Morning Post. 2017-08-16. Archived from the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
^ "Taiwan bans its citizens from working for China's Confucius Institutes". Focus Taiwan. 2024-05-03. Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
^ "Organizational Structure of the MAC ─ Mainland Affairs Council". Archived from the original on 2014-05-08.

External links

Official website
Media related to Mainland Affairs Council at Wikimedia Commons

[autogenerated1-1] "Mainland Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan)". 22 February 2017. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2013.

[tail-2] Chi, Su (2009). "Conciliation in cross-strait relations". Taiwan's relations with Mainland China. London and New York: Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-415-46454-3. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved August 28, 2017.

[3] "Taiwan calls time on Mongolia and Tibet affairs commission". South China Morning Post. 2017-08-16. Archived from the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-04-26.

[4] "Taiwan bans its citizens from working for China's Confucius Institutes". Focus Taiwan. 2024-05-03. Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-05.

[5] "Organizational Structure of the MAC ─ Mainland Affairs Council". Archived from the original on 2014-05-08.

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[2]

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