The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF; ; often abbreviated as 海基會) is a semiofficial organization set up by the

Government of the Republic of China The Government of the Republic of China, is the national government of the Republic of China whose ''de facto'' territory currently consists of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other island groups in the "free area". Governed by the ...

(Taiwan) to handle technical and/or business matters with the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(PRC). Though technically a private organization, it is funded by the government and under the supervision of the

Mainland Affairs Council The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in Taiwan. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations ...

of the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. ...

. Its role is effectively to function as the ''de facto'' embassy to the PRC, as a means of avoiding acknowledgement of the PRC's statehood status. Its counterpart in the PRC is the

Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS; ; often abbreviated as 海协会 / 海協會) is an organization set up by the People's Republic of China for handling technical and business matters with the Republic of ...

(ARATS).

History

Due to the complexity of the

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

status of

cross-strait relations Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). The relationship h ...

and lack of contact between the two sides, the ROC government had to create an intermediary body from the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

to deal with all cross-strait matters. Thus on 9 March 1991, the SEF was formally established with the help of the 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 they had been virtually non-existent for almost 50 years after the end of the

Chinese civil war The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

in 1949.

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

List of chairpersons

SEF branch office in Mainland China

On 11 April 2013, the

approved a bill to open SEF branch offices in

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

. That month,

ROC President The president of the Republic of China, now often referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had aut ...

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei fro ...

said the SEF offices in Mainland China will not fly ROC flags, either inside or outside the office buildings, because Taiwan and Mainland China are not officially foreign nations in relation to each other. In the initial announcement, three offices were planned.

SEF building

The current SEF building in Beian Road originated since its groundbreaking construction on 25 September 2010 when its ceremony was presided over 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

presided over the building's official opening ceremony.

Transportation

The SEF building is adjacent to Dazhi Station of the

Taipei Metro Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, which also operates the Maokong Gondo ...

on the Brown Line.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Executive Yuan Cross-Strait relations 1991 establishments in Taiwan Organizations established in 1991 Organizations based in Taipei