Mainland Affairs Council

Mainland Affairs Council

大陸委員會 Dàlù Wěiyuánhuì
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Agency overview
Formed	August 1988 (as Inter-Agency Mainland Affairs Committee) 28 January 1991 (as MAC)
Jurisdiction	Republic of China
Headquarters	Zhongzheng, Taipei
Ministers responsible	Andrew Hsia, Minister Lin Chu-chia, Special Deputy Minister Shih Hui-fen, Deputy Minister
Parent agency	Executive Yuan
Website	www.mac.gov.tw

Mainland Affairs Council
Traditional Chinese	大陸委員會
Simplified Chinese	大陆委员会
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dàlù Wěiyuánhuì

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC; Chinese: 大陸委員會; pinyin: Dàlù Wěiyuánhuì) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of policies between the Republic of China on Taiwan and the People's Republic of China which administers mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The MAC counterpart body by the PRC is the Taiwan Affairs Office. Both countries officially claim each other's territory, however the Republic of China controls only Taiwan and surrounding islands, and therefore is usually known as "Taiwan", sometimes referred to as the "Free Area" of the Republic of China by the Pan-Blue Coalition. The People's Republic of China controls mainland China as well as Hong Kong, Macau, Hainan, and other islands and is therefore usually known simply as "China".

The Mainland Affairs Council is administered by a cabinet level Minister. The current Minister is Andrew Hsia.

The council plays an important role in setting policy and development of relations with mainland China and advising the central government. The agency funds and indirectly administers the Straits Exchange Foundation which is the official intermediary with the PRC.

History

In November 1987, relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have improved a lot 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 task force 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.

Organizational structure

The Council office

The agency is organized in the following departments:

Internal departments

• Department of Policy Planning
• Department of Cultural and Educational Affairs
• Department of Economic Affairs
• Department of Legal Affairs
• Department of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs
• Department of Information and Liaison
• Secretariat

Offices

• Personnel Office
• Accounting Office
• Civil Servant Ethics Office

Others

• Bureau of Hong Kong Affairs
• Office of Macao Affairs

List of MAC heads

Andrew Hsia, the current Minister of MAC

Name	Term
Shih Chi-yang	7 February 1991 – 31 May 1991
Huang Kun-huei	1 June 1991 – 14 December 1994
Vincent Siew	15 December 1994 – 3 December 1995
Kao Koong-lian (acting)	3 December 1995 – 27 February 1996
Chang King-yuh	28 February 1996 – 31 January 1999
Su Chi	1 February 1999 – 19 May 2000
Tsai Ing-wen	20 May 2000 – 19 May 2004
Joseph Wu	20 May 2004 – 10 April 2007
Chen Ming-tong	10 April 2007 – 20 May 2008
Lai Shin-yuan	20 May 2008 – 28 September 2012
Wang Yu-chi	28 September 2012 – 16 February 2015
Andrew Hsia	16 February 2015 –

See also

• Political status of Taiwan
• National Unification Council
• Cross-Strait relations
• Taiwan Affairs Office
• Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau

External links

• Official website (Chinese (Taiwan))