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A Federal Republic of China (Chinese: 中華聯邦共和國; pinyin: Zhonghua Lianbang Gongheguo) is a proposed federal republic encompassing mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This "Third Republic" (following on from the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China) is proposed by supporters of the Tibet independence movement, although it would not in effect create an independent Tibet. Yan Jiaqi, writing for the Tibetan government in exile, has written that:
"It would be a federation with the characteristics of a confederation. Federal China would consist of two kinds of republics: 'loose republics' such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang: and 'close republics' consisting the rest of China."
According to Yan:
"They would differ from the existing federal countries in their defence, taxation and legal systems"
This model, however, in which the close republics would have an arrangement based on the United States of America, and the loose republics more on the European Union, is not agreed upon by all advocates of a Federal Republic.
Another concept similar to a Federal Republic of China is the concept of a United States of China. This usage was popularized after Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, in 2001 made a comment that a united China can adopt a new national name and flag. Large economic ties between China and Taiwan have also motivated the occasional informal use of the term to describe a united China.