The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) was a ministry-level commission of the Executive Yuan in the Republic of China. It was disbanded on 15 September 2017.

History

Mongolian Affairs Conference Closing Ceremony

The first model was created during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

in 1636 as the Mongolian Bureau (; mnc, , z=Monggo jurgan), later reformed into the

Lifan Yuan The Lifan Yuan (; ; Mongolian: Гадаад Монголын төрийг засах явдлын яам, ''γadaγadu mongγul un törü-yi jasaqu yabudal-un yamun'') was an agency in the government of the Qing dynasty of China which administered ...

in 1639, and oversaw the relationship of the Qing court to its Mongolian and Tibetan territories. During the reign of the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to ...

, the bureau was renamed to Minority Affairs Council. In 1906, during the reign of the

Guangxu Emperor The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, w ...

, it was renamed to Ministry of Minority Affairs (理藩部). Following the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...

and the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the section was replaced by Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Agency under the Ministry of the Interior in April 1912. In July 1912, the agency was again renamed as Bureau of Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs and placed under the State Affairs Yuan. In 1914, it was reorganized and being placed directly under the supervision of President. On 1 February 1929, it was finally changed to Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) in accordance with the Nationalist Government Organizational Law. After the

Communist revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution often, but not necessarily, inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, socialism can be used as an intermediate stag ...

in 1949, and the central government of China's relocation to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, formerly a Qing province turned

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

that was acquired from Japan in 1945 after the end of World War II, the MTAC ceased its activities in Tibet and Mongolia, although it served as a governmental body which assisted in the relationship between ethnic Mongols and Tibetans in Taiwan and increasing the communication between the Taiwanese and the Mongols as well as the Tibetans. After the 1959 Tibetan uprising, Chiang Kai-shek announced in his ''Letter to Tibetan Compatriots'' () that the ROC's policy would be to help the

Tibetan people The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans l ...

overthrow 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 ...

's rule in Tibet. The MTAC sent secret agents to India to disseminate pro-

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

(KMT) and anti-Communist propaganda among Tibetan exiles. From 1971 to 1978, the MTAC also recruited ethnic Tibetan children from India and Nepal to study in Taiwan, with the expectation that they would work for a ROC government that returned to the mainland. On 14 August 2017, the Executive Yuan, now led by the independence minded Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, announced that the MTAC would be dissolved by the end of the year. No budget was allocated to the MTAC for 2018. Employees and responsibilities of the commission were re-assigned to two places; the

Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center The Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center () is a cultural center in Da'an District, Taipei, Taiwan under the administration of the Ministry of Culture. It was previously under the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission of the Executive Yuan, ...

under the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

, and the expanded Department of Hong Kong, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs under the Mainland Affairs Council.

Organizational structure

* Commissioners * Secretary's Office * Counselor's Office * Department of Mongolian Affairs * Department of Tibetan Affairs * Department of General Affairs * Compilation and Translation * Accounting Office * Personnel Office * Civil Service Ethics Office

Ministers

Political Party:

Other notable members

Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama Thubten Choekyi Nyima () (1883–1937), often referred to as ''Choekyi Nyima'', was the ninth Panchen Lama of Tibet. Thubten Choekyi Nyima is the 9th in his lineage, as recognized by Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the traditional seat of Panc ...

* Wu Heling *

Pandatsang Rapga Pandatsang Rapga (; 1902–1974) was a Khamba revolutionary during the first half of the 20th century in Tibet. He was pro-Kuomintang and pro-Republic of China, anti-feudal, anti-communist. He believed in overthrowing the Dalai Lama's feudal regim ...

Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center

The Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center () was originally managed by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission. It is located in the Daan District of

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

on Qingtian Street near the Taipei Grand Mosque and Mandarin Training Center. The center was established in 1993 in the former residence of the Changkya Khutukhtu, Lobsang Pelden Tenpe Dronme, who fled to

after 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. The building incorporates traditional Tibetan architectural features. It also includes an exhibition area for cultural artifacts, a reading room, lecture hall and prayer hall for the Changkya Khutukhtu. After the commission was disbanded, the center's management was turned over to the

References

External links

Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center
{{authority control 1912 establishments in China 2017 disestablishments in Taiwan Anti-communist organizations Executive Yuan Government agencies established in 1912 Government agencies disestablished in 2017 China Mongolia–Taiwan relations Taiwan–Tibet relations