Overseas Community Affairs Council

Updated on Nov 11, 2023

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Jurisdiction Republic of China Website www.ocac.gov.tw		Parent agency Executive Yuan

Formed October 1926 (in Guangzhou, Republican China) Headquarters Zhongzheng, Taipei, Taiwan Ministers responsible Wu Hsin-hsing, Minister Tien Chiu-chin, Deputy Minister Roy Leu, Vice Minister

The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC; Chinese: 僑務委員會; pinyin: Qiáo Wù Wěiyuánhuì) is a cabinet-level council of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China. Its main objective is to serve as a cultural, education, economic and informational exchanges organization between Taiwan and the overseas communities. Its remit is not limited to expatriates from Taiwan, but includes all ethnic 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, the organization now puts emphasis not only in Standard Chinese, but also on Taiwanese, Hakka, 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 Offices.

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", under the desinicization policies of President Chen Shui-bian. However, its English acronym OCAC and Chinese name remained the same, to reduce the expense for its official title change. After the Kuomintang 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 in some of its teaching materials. Amid threats in November 2012 from Democratic Progressive Party legislators to freeze the OCAC's budget, its director relented to demands to rename the OCAC to the ROC (Taiwan) Overseas Community Affairs Council.

Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission

Chang Fu-mei (20 May 2000 – April 2006)

Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission

Chang Fu-mei (April 2006 – 20 May 2008)

Wu Ying-yih (20 May 2008 – September 2012)

Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission

Wu Ying-yih (September 2012 – 12 November 2012)