Taiwan Affairs Office

The Taiwan Affairs Office is an administrative agency under the State Council of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is responsible for cross-strait relations and sets and implements guidelines and policies related to Taiwan, which is claimed by the People's Republic of China as a province of its own. This organization has no relationship with the Taiwan government.

Taiwan Affairs Office（China)

国务院台湾事务办公室 中国共产党中央台湾工作办公室
Logo of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council
Headquarters
Agency overview
Formed	1955 (party) 1988 (state)
Preceding agency	People's Bureau of Unification (1955–1988)
Type	Ministerial level agency
Jurisdiction	People's Republic of China
Headquarters	6-1 Guang'anmen South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
Agency executives	Song Tao, Director Zheng Lizhong Sun Yafu Ye Kedong Chen Yuanfeng, Deputy Directors
Parent agency	Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs
Child agency	Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits
Website	www.gwytb.gov.cn

Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council
Simplified Chinese	国务院台湾事务办公室
Traditional Chinese	國務院臺灣事務辦公室
Literal meaning	State Affairs Court Taiwan Affairs Office
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guówùyuàn Táiwān Shìwù Bàngōngshì
Acronym
Simplified Chinese	国台办
Traditional Chinese	國臺辦
Literal meaning	State Taiwan Office
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guótáibàn

Under the "one institution with two names" arrangement, it is also the Chinese Communist Party's Taiwan Work Office under the CCP Central Committee; the party title is used for party-to-party interactions with Taiwan.

History

In 2007, the Taiwan Affairs Office established the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland [zh] (ATIEM), consisting of Taiwanese businesses operating in Mainland China.^[1] Prior to the 2012 Taiwanese legislative and presidential elections, ATIEM organized discounted flights to Taiwan for Taishang to vote in Taiwanese elections.^[2][3]

In July 1999, the Taiwan Affairs Office established the Taiwan.cn news website.^[4]

Functions

The office promotes Chinese unification and manages activities pertaining to the relationship across the Taiwan Strait and which may require interfacing with the government of Taiwan.^[5] These include: preparing for negotiations and agreements; direct mail, transport and trade links; propaganda and political influence work related to Taiwan; controlling and censoring media and public relations; handling major incidents;^[6] economic planning; intergovernmental exchanges and cooperation; personnel exchanges, observers and symposia; preparing meetings with Taiwanese politicians and officials; and work for international conferences involving Taiwan. It also manages a wide range of exchanges between mainland China and Taiwan in cultural, economic, and scholarly areas.^[7]

List of directors

Directors of the Central Committee Taiwan Affairs Office
Name	Duration of Office
Qi Yanming	1955 – 1966
Luo Qingchang	1978 – 1982
Yang Yindong	1982 – September 1985
Yang Side	1985 – March 1991

Directors of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office
Ding Guangen	30 October 1988 – 16 November 1990
Wang Zhaoguo	16 November 1990 – 9 December 1996
Chen Yunlin	9 December 1996 – 3 June 2008
Wang Yi	3 June 2008 – 17 March 2013
Zhang Zhijun	17 March 2013 – 19 March 2018
Liu Jieyi	19 March 2018 – 28 December 2022
Song Tao	28 December 2022 –

List of spokespersons

Spokespersons of the Taiwan Affairs Office
Name	Duration of office
Zhang Mingqing	September 2000 – 27 October 2004
Li Weiyi	March 2002 – 17 December 2008
Yang Yi	January 2007 – 25 September 2013
Fan Liqing	January 2007 – 27 May 2015
Ma Xiaoguang	January 2014 – June 2023
An Fengshan	October 2015 – July 2019
Zhu Fenglian	November 2019 – present
Chen Binhua	June 2023 – present

See also

• China portal
• Taiwan portal

• Mainland Affairs Council, counterpart body in Taiwan
• Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, semi-official contact body
• Straits Exchange Foundation, counterpart semi-official contact body in Taiwan
• Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China
• United front in Taiwan
• Hong Kong and Macau Work Office