The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC; ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Khièu-vu Vî-yèn-fi'') is a cabinet-level council 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. ...

of the Republic of China (

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 no ...

). The council was founded in 1926 in Canton (

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

) in Kwangtung (Guangdong) Province. Its main objective is to serve as a cultural, education, economic and informational exchanges organization between Taiwan and the overseas Taiwanese and Chinese descent communities. Its remit is not limited to expatriates from Taiwan, but includes all ethnic Taiwanese and Chinese living in a foreign country who "identify with the Republic of China (ROC)". With the evolution of the political landscape and the

Taiwanese localization movement Taiwanese nationalism () is a nationalist movement to identify the Taiwanese people as a distinct nation. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, it is strongly linked to the Taiwan independence movement in seeking an identity separate ...

, the organization now puts emphasis not only in

Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standa ...

, but also on

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan (Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, r ...

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

, and other Taiwanese cultural expressions. It offers information about aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, and its overseas offices may serve, in addition to the

Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), also known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Taipei Representative Office (TRO) or Taipei Mission, is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a ''de facto'' e ...

Organizational structures

* Department of Policy Research and Development * Department of Overseas Chinese Network Services * Department of Overseas Chinese Education * Department of Overseas Chinese Business * Department of Overseas Chinese Student Counseling * Secretariat Office * Personnel Office * Civil Service Ethics Office * Accounting and Statistics Office * Information Management Office * Overseas Chinese News Agency * Legal Affairs Committee

Title changes

The English title of the council was changed from "Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission" to "Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission" in 2006, officially to "avoid being confused as a governmental body of 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 List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

", under the desinicization policies of independence-leaning President

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

of the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majorit ...

. However, its English acronym OCAC and Chinese name remained the same, to reduce the expense for its official title change. After the

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 Ta ...

renewed its mandate in the 2012 election, the official English name was changed back to the original. However, in November 2012 there was a controversy when it was discovered that the OCAC used

simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the '' Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are o ...

in some of its teaching materials. Amid threats in November 2012 from

legislators to freeze the OCAC's budget, its director relented to demands to rename the OCAC to the ROC (Taiwan) Overseas Community Affairs Council.

Ministers

Political Party:

Transportation

The council is accessible within walking distance North East from

NTU Hospital Station National Taiwan University Hospital () is a metro station in Taipei, Taiwan served by Taipei Metro. Station overview The station is a two-level, underground station with an island platform. It has four exits, two of which are equipped with elev ...

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 ...

References

External links