India, Nov. 24 -- China's management of civic expression is often framed in terms of police presence, digital censorship or legal ambiguity. Yet an equally important part of this landscape is defined by who never appears in public at all. Among the most conspicuous absences are feminist organisers, labour advocates and community-level activists who once formed part of China's scattered civil society. Their gradual removal from the public sphere has reshaped the country's protest ecosystem long before any gathering is broken up on the street.

The disappearance of these voices is not abrupt. It has unfolded through a steady pattern of administrative pressure, digital intimidation and targeted detentions. By the time a civic incident emerge...