Straits Exchange Foundation

Straits Exchange Foundation
海峽交流基金會

Formation	21 November 1990 (first meeting) 9 March 1991 (start operation)[1]
Headquarters	Zhongshan, Taipei
Location	Republic of China
Chairman	Lin Join-sane
Vice Chairman and Secretary-General	Vacant[2]
Deputy Chairman[3]	Ma Shaw-chang
Website	www.sef.org.tw

The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF; Chinese: 海峽交流基金會; pinyin: Hǎixiá Jiāoliú Jījīnhuì; often abbreviated as 海基會) is a semi-official organization set up by the Republic of China (ROC) government to handle technical or business matters with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Though technically a private organization, it is funded by the government and controlled by the Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan.

Its counterpart in the PRC is the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

History

Due to the complexity of political and legal status of cross-strait relations and lack of contact between the two sides, ROC government had to create an intermediary body from the private sector to deal with all cross-strait matters. Thus on 9 March 1991, SEF was formally established with the help of government and private sector funds.

At the same time, the PRC government established ARATS. The creation of these two offices facilitate a new stage in cross-strait relations after it had been idle for almost 50 years after the end of Chinese civil war in 1949.^[4]

Organization structure

• Department of Cultural Affairs
• Department of Economic Affairs
• Department of Legal Affairs
• Department of Planning and Public Affairs
• Secretariat
• Personnel Office
• Accounting Office^[5]

List of chairmen

Lin Join-sane, Chairman of SEF

SEF branch office in Mainland China

After ROC cabinet Executive Yuan approved the bill on 11 April 2013, SEF will start to have a branch office in Mainland China by the end of 2014. In April 2013, ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said that SEF offices in Mainland China will not wave ROC flags, either inside or outside the office buildings, because Taiwan and Mainland China are not foreign nations to each other.^[7][8][9] Up to date, SEF plans to have three offices in Mainland China.^[10]

SEF building

The current SEF building in Beian Road originated since its groundbreaking construction on 25 September 2010 when its ceremony was presided by then SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung. On 31 March 2012, the finished constructed building was refurbished and SEF started to move there on 4 April 2012 from their old rented office building on Minsheng East Road. The new building was opened for service on 9 April 2012. On 18 May 2012, President Ma Ying-jeou presided the building's official opening ceremony.^[1]

Transportation

The SEF building is accessible by Dazhi Station of the Taipei Metro on the Brown Line.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Straits Exchange Foundation.

• Cross-strait relations
• Koo Chen-fu
• 1992 Consensus
• Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits

References

External links

• SEF website (Chinese (Taiwan)) (Translate: Google, Babelfish)

Cross-Strait relations States  People's Republic of China  Republic of China (Taiwan) Organisations     Taiwan Affairs Office Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Communist Party of China Mainland Affairs Council Straits Exchange Foundation Kuomintang National Unification Council People     Xi Jinping Hu Jintao Jiang Zemin Chen Yunlin Zhang Zhijun Wang Yi Wang Daohan Chen Deming Ma Ying-jeou Chen Shui-bian Lee Teng-hui Lin Join-sane Wang Yu-chi Chiang Pin-kung Lai Shin-Yuan Koo Chen-fu Events Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) Retrocession of Taiwan (1945) February 28 Incident (1947) Chinese Civil War (1946–1950) First Taiwan Strait Crisis (1954–1955) Second Taiwan Strait Crisis (1958) PRC entry to the United Nations (1971) Third Taiwan Strait Crisis (1995–1996) Anti-Secession Law (2005) Pan-Blue visits to mainland China (2005) Cross-Strait charter (2005–2008) Sunflower Movement (2014) 2014 Wang–Zhang meetings 2015 Xi–Chu meeting 2015 Ma–Xi meeting Negotiations Kinmen Agreement (1990) Wang–Koo summit (1993) Chen–Chiang summit (2008–current) Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (2010) Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum (2006–current) Straits Forum (2009–current) Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (2013) Cross-Strait Peace Forum (2013–current) Concepts Political status of Taiwan Legal status of Taiwan Chinese Unification One country, two systems Taiwan independence movement 1992 Consensus Three Links One-China policy Two Chinas One Country on Each Side Three Noes Six Assurances Special state-to-state relations Four Noes and One Without Zhonghua Minzu Special non-state-to-state relations Cross-Strait Economic Zone Free area of the Republic of China Chinese Taipei