The Zone of Respect in the Chinese Party-State: A Preliminary Exploration

It is possible to distinguish between a “zone of immunity” for the freedoms of citizens created by the public contract of a liberal state’s constitution and a “zone of indifference” for the freedoms of the people created by a party-state’s policy preferences. Professor Tang Tsou first suggested this distinction. However, to the extent that the political leadership of a party-state is fundamentally committed to popular sovereignty, we can speak of a “zone of respect” for popular freedoms that lies between immunity and indifference. In contrast to the zone of immunity, the zone of respect does not acknowledge the legitimacy of opposition. In contrast to the zone of indifference, the zone of respect recognises and protects the legitimacy of diverse interests and opinions as a constitutional commitment rather than as a changeable policy commitment.