Mainland Affairs Council

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

Mainland Affairs Council
大陸委員會
Dàlù Wěiyuánhuì
Agency overview
Formed August 1988 (as Inter-Agency Mainland Affairs Committee)
28 January 1991 (as MAC)[1]
Jurisdiction  Republic of China
Headquarters Zhongzheng, Taipei
Ministers responsible Andrew Hsia, Minister
Lin Chu-chia[2], Special Deputy Minister
Shih Hui-fen, Deputy Minister
Wu Mei-hung[3], Political Deputy Minister
Parent agency Executive Yuan
Website www.mac.gov.tw
Mainland Affairs Council
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese

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 Free Area of the Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) and the Mainland Area of the Republic of China, which covers mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau under the People's Republic of China (PRC) government. The MAC counterpart body by the PRC is the Taiwan Affairs Office.

The Mainland Affairs Council is administered by a cabinet level Minister. The current Minister is Andrew Hsia.[4]

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.[5]

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.[1]

Organizational structure

The Council office

The agency is organized in the following departments:[6][7]

Internal departments

Offices

Others

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mainland Affairs Council.

References

External links