Overseas Chinese Affairs Office

History

OCAO's forerunner, the Committee of Overseas Chinese Affairs, was established in 1949; He Xiangning, the wife of Liao Zhongkai, served as its first head from October 1949 to April 1959, after which her son Liao Chengzhi took over the position of head until the abolishment of the office in June 1970. Upon the establishment of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office in 1978, Liao Chengzhi also became its first head. Liao Chengzhi's son Liao Hui also joined the office as vice-director in 1983, and was promoted to director in May 1984.

In 1990, OCAO and China News Service personnel were dispatched to the U.S. to found SinoVision and The China Press to counter negative perceptions of the Chinese government following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

OCAO has focused on technology transfer through agreements with professional associations in science and technology fields such as the Silicon Valley Chinese Overseas Business Association (SCOBA). OCAO also oversees the Chinese Overseas Exchange Association (COEA), which sponsored annual "Discovery Trips to China for Eminent Young Overseas Chinese". In 2009, the director of OCAO called on overseas Chinese to participate in local politics.

In October 2016, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection reported deficiencies in the CCP's control over OCAO. In March 2018, it was announced that the OCAO and its functions, such as China News Service, would be merged into various internal bureaus of the United Front Work Department as well as the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC) as part of a series of institutional reforms, with the OCAO remaining as an external name of the UFWD.

In a 2022 ruling, a Canadian court stated that OCAO "engages in covert and surreptitious intelligence gathering". Canada has subsequently deported and barred OCAO agents from entry.