Entity Type: PRC Party-State Agency

The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council (國務院僑務辦公室), or OCAO, is an agency responsible for managing and implementing the government’s policies and strategies toward overseas Chinese communities globally. Since March 2018, it functions as the principal international face of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, though it maintains its original name when conducting public business. The office was established in 1978. In March 2018, as part of deepening institutional reforms, the OCAO was merged into the UFWD, maintaining its distinct name under a practice known in China as “one institution with two names” (一個機構兩塊牌子). The office operates eight functional departments including the Secretariat Administrative Division, Policy and Legal Affairs Division, Domestic Affairs Division, and Foreign Affairs Division covering different regional portfolios. Following the 2018 reorganization, OCAO’s functions were distributed across multiple UFWD bureaus, with particular emphasis on coordinating overseas Chinese communities and cultural exchanges through educational and media initiatives.

The Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中共雲南省委) is the chief leadership body at the provincial level in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. The committee oversees functional offices including Organization (meaning CCP appointments), propaganda (media and ideological control), and “united front work” (coordination of activities for global and non-Party influence), alongside specialized offices for cyberspace affairs, foreign affairs, and deepening reform. It directly manages key institutions like Yunnan Party School, the Yunnan Daily Newspaper Group (雲南日報報業集團), and the Yunnan Institute of Socialism, maintaining comprehensive control over political, media, and educational activities across this strategically important border province.

The People’s Government of Yunnan Province (雲南省人民政府) serves as the provincial administrative body for Yunnan, founded in December 1949. Under China’s single-party political structure, the governor answers to the secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the CCP (中共雲南省委). Originally established as the Yunnan Provincial Military and Political Commission, the institution has been renamed multiple times throughout its existence: becoming the Yunnan Provincial People’s Committee (雲南省人民委員會) in April 1955, then the Yunnan Provincial Revolutionary Committee (雲南省革命委員會) in August 1968 during the Cultural Revolution, before adopting its present name in December 1979. Information management and external propaganda (外宣) within the government are handled by the Yunnan Provincial People’s Government Information Office, which manages the official Yunnan Gateway multimedia news platform that features an English-language website targeting international audiences. Yunnan Gateway and the information office also now overlap with the Yunnan International Communication Center for South and Southeast Asia (雲南省南亞東南亞區域國際傳播中心).

The Propaganda Office of the Baoshan Committee of the CCP is the office under the Chinese Communist Party leadership in the city, which is located about 60 kilometers from China’s border with Myanmar. The office is charged with ensuring media outlets “strictly observe propaganda requirements” and “firmly observe correct guidance of public opinion,” particularly on sensitive issues, while transmitting content priorities from higher party levels. It controls the party’s mouthpiece newspaper, the Baoshan Daily (保山日报).

The Propaganda Office of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中共湖南省委宣傳部) serves as the chief office responsible for communicating the agendas of the provincial party leadership and overseeing state-run media in Hunan Province, including the mouthpiece newspaper Hunan Daily (湖南日報). It coordinates party ideological work throughout the province while simultaneously operating under multiple official names, allowing it to exercise comprehensive control over news, publishing, and cultural production. The department functions as the central enforcer of the party’s media discipline, ensuring all local outlets maintain proper political orientation in line with central and provincial-level directives.

The Honghe County Taiwan Affairs Office (紅河縣台辦) is a county-level administrative agency responsible for implementing cross-strait policies within the local-level Honghe County in Yunnan Province. Established as part of the broader Taiwan Affairs Office network that was created in 1988 under the leadership of the CCP’s Central Committee and State Council, the local office manages all Taiwan-related policies, including personnel exchanges, seminars, and international visits. The office coordinates with the provincial-level TAO.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of Yunnan People’s Government (雲南省人民政府台灣事務辦公室) is a provincial government agency responsible for coordinating cross-strait exchanges and implementing propaganda activities in line with Chinese Communist Party objectives regarding Taiwan. Operating under the “one institution with two names” arrangement, it simultaneously functions as the CCP Yunnan Committee Taiwan Work Office (中共雲南省委台灣工作辦公室), with the party designation used for party-to-party interactions with Taiwan. The office serves as Yunnan Province’s centralized management department for Taiwan-related affairs, reporting to both the provincial party committee and government while implementing guidelines set by the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which is also the CCP Central Committee’s Taiwan Work Office. This organization has no relationship with Taiwan’s government and operates within the People’s Republic of China’s framework claiming Taiwan as a province, coordinating activities that advance Beijing’s “reunification” policies through cultural, economic, and media exchanges.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (國務院台灣事務辦公室) is a ministerial-level agency of the People’s Republic of China established on October 30, 1988, responsible for cross-strait relations and implementing Beijing’s Taiwan policies. Operating under the “one institution with two names” arrangement, it simultaneously functions as the Chinese Communist Party’s Taiwan Work Office (中國共產黨中央台灣工作辦公室) under the CCP Central Committee, with the party designation used for interactions with Taiwan political parties. The office promotes Chinese unification through managing cultural, economic, and scholarly exchanges, preparing negotiations and agreements, conducting propaganda work, and coordinating with provincial Taiwan Affairs Offices across mainland China. The agency, which advances the CCP’s official position that Taiwan is a province of the PRC, has no relationship with Taiwan’s government and operates from headquarters at Guang’anmen South Street in Beijing while managing activities across the Taiwan Strait.