“By ‘public sphere’ we mean first of all a domain of our social life in which such a thing as public opinion can be formed. ”

“Access to the public sphere is open in principle to all citizens…… Citizens act as a public when they deal with matters of general interest without being subjected to coercion; thus with the guarantee that they may assemble and unite freely, and express and publicize their opinion freely.”

This space in Habermas’ sense has never existed in China, weather late Qing or today.