A quango is a British thing: an organisation the government starts, but which is not a normal government department. It has its own legal powers and is meant to run its own work — for example a board that watches over a public service. Though actually, independent is a stretch. The government created it, often pays for it, and can shut it down, so it is not free in the way a charity is. In British newspapers the word can sound a little sour, as if there are too many of these bodies spending public money. You will not hear it used about Taiwan. Do not mix it up with NGO, which means a group the government did not set up.

準官方機構（英國）。台灣日常沒有對應詞；不是一般說的 NGO（非政府組織）。