Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission

Address: 3,15-17F., No.5, Xuzhou Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City 10055,Taiwan

Tel: +886-2-2327-2600

Web: http://www.ocac.gov.tw/

Company description

At the early date of October 1926, considering the importance of the overseas Chinese affairs, the Kuomintang (KMT) government established the ‘Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission’ to be the single administrative agency in the government that take full responsibility of overseas Chinese’s weffare . The proposal to establish the OCAC had been made by the overseas delegates Chou Chi-kang, Mo Tzu-tsai, Wang Chien-hai, Lao Hsien-bien, and Chou Shou-yu and was passed at the KMT”s Second Party Congress. The eighth working conference of the KMT central committee, held in May 1929, passed the ‘Regulations on the organization of Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission’ and made the OCAC subordinate to the KMT party. Responding to the need for overseas services and need for strong and healthy organization functions, the government, adopting suggestions from overseas Chinese, enacted the OCAC Organization Act in December 1931. This measure, which placed the OCAC under the Executive Yuan, specified that OCAC would have secretariat, overseas Chinese management, and overseas Chinese education offices, as well as document management, general affairs, overseas Chinese guidance, immigration, educational guidance, and cultural affairs sections. OCAC was formally established in April of the following year.

To promote Chinese language education overseas, the Chung Hwa Correspondence School was established in 1940. This school gave overseas Chinese an opportunity for higher education in Chinese via mail. In addition, to provide news and information regarding economic, political and social situation about Taiwan to overseas Chinese, OCAC established the Overseas Chinese News Agency in April 1941. The ROC Constitution, enacted by the National Assembly in December 1946, listed overseas Chinese affairs are one of the ROC’s ‘fundamental national policies’, clearly stipulated that the nation must protect and assist the economic development of overseas Chinese.

When the Legislative Yuan revised the OCAC Organization Act in December 1981, the number of Deputy Vice Ministers was changed from the original two to either two or three; the Overseas Compatriot Certification Services Office was established to replace overseas Chinese entry/exit service centers; some of our personnel were stationed abroad to carry out the government’s overseas compatriot affairs policies; and the number of OCAC personnel was increased from 231 to 354.

Products and services

In March 1985, the OCAC’s first “Overseas Chinese Culture Center” was established in San Francisco, U.S.A. The number of OCAC’s overseas service centers has gradually increased, and a total of 17 had been established by October 2001, including centers in the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Thailand, Philippines, and Australia. Plans have been made to expand the scope of OCAC’s services by establishing new service centers in Vancouver and Canada.