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The Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (), also called Cross-Strait Act (), is the law of the Republic of China (Taiwan or ROC) governing cross-strait relations. In article 1, the act mentions its applicability in the period before national unification.
The main purpose of the act is to protect the security and welfare of the people of Taiwan. The act defines its de facto controlled territory as the Taiwan area, while at the same time affirming sovereignty over the Mainland China in article 2. It also provides a legal framework on the relations between Taiwan and mainland China without recognising the China (PRC) and its governmental organisations. It is enacted in accordance with Article 11 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China promulgated on 1 May 1991.
During the "Communist Rebellion" period, the ROC regarded cross-Strait relation as at war. However, after the PRC implemented economic reform and altered the approach to Taiwan starting from 1980s, the ROC Government allowed nationals to visit their mainland relatives in 1987, and the necessity of regulating the cross-strait relationship arose thereafter.
In 1989, the Ministry of Justice unveiled the Provisional Bill Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (). In 1991, the Temporary Provisions were repealed by President Lee Teng-hui, which allowed the act to be passed by the Legislative Yuan on 16 July 1992 and commenced at the end of the month.
Article 18 of the act, regarding the deportation of mainlanders that legally entered Taiwan, was ruled unconstitutional in 2013. An amendment was passed in 2019 which any cross-Strait political settlement must be considered by the parliament twice and approved in referendum before being signed by the president. A year later, parliamentarians from DPP tabled amendments to repeal wordings of "before national unification" and substitute with "accordingly to national development" or "during which the governance is limited to Tai-Peng-Kin-Ma and affiliated islands", but was withdrawn days later after first reading.
... should any change occur in the situation of Hong Kong or Macau such that the implementation of this Act endangers the security of the Taiwan Area, the Executive Yuan may request the President to order suspension of the application of all or part of the provisions of this Act ...Should the application of any part of this Act be suspended and no other laws or regulations be formulated to govern relations between the Taiwan Area and Hong Kong or Macau, the relevant provisions of the Act Governing the Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area shall apply.
On 19 August 2020, the Department of Commerce of the Economic Affairs Ministry, citing relevant regulations of the Act, banned OTT (and by extension iQIYI and Tencent Video) from further operating in Taiwan, or risk a continuous fine ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$5 million.
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