The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive (government), executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, amended constitution, the head of the Execut ...

of the Republic of China (

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

). The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations policy which targets

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. The MAC's counterpart body in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

is the Taiwan Affairs Office. Both states officially claim each other's territory, though both sides control only part of the claimed territory. The affairs related to the PRC in mainland China is dealt by the MAC, instead of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. The council plays an important role in setting policy and development of cross-strait relations and advising the central government. It is administered by a cabinet level Minister. The current Minister is Chiu Tai-san. The agency funds and indirectly administers the Straits Exchange Foundation which directly interacts with agencies from the PRC.

History

The government of ROC does not recognize the legitimacy and sovereignty of PRC since its establishment in 1949, and heated armed conflicts went on between both parties. The Republic of China controls only Taiwan, Penghu, and some other islands, and therefore is usually known as "Taiwan", sometimes referred to as the " Free Area" in the Republic of China by the

Constitution of the Republic of China The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanking, and adopted on 25 De ...

. The People's Republic of China controls

as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and other islands, and is therefore usually known as "China". As the relation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait cooled down, ROC government allowed family-related visits to mainland China in November 1987. The

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 The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

on 18 January 1991. On 28 January 1991, the act was promulgated by President

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; pinyin: ''Lǐ Dēnghuī''; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese politician and agricultural scientist who served as the fourth president of the Republic of China, president of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan) unde ...

thus officially authorized the Mainland Affairs Council to be the agency for the overall planning and handling of affairs towards mainland China. 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. As cross-strait relations worsened again in the early 2020s, 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 in 2024 out of national security concerns. In January 2025, the MAC revoked the operating license of '' The Strait Herald'' due to its united front work on the island.

Organizational structure

ROC Mainland Affairs Council press conference lectern 20170203

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, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs * Department of Information and Liaison

Offices

* Secretariat * Personnel Office * Accounting Office * Civil Servant Ethics Office * Information Management

Others

* Office of Hong Kong Affairs * Office of Macao Affairs

List of MAC heads

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1988 establishments in Taiwan Cross-strait relations Executive Yuan Government agencies established in 1988