Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese activist who escaped and sought refuge with the Americans, is a man of extraordinary courage. A self-taught lawyer who is blind, he has campaigned tirelessly against the forced abortions and sterilizations that are central to China's one-child policy. The case is creating sharp new tensions in American relations with China just as the two countries are scheduled to hold their annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Scores of senior officials are scheduled to meet in Beijing this week to discuss an important agenda, including China's artificially undervalued currency, disputes over intellectual property and how much Beijing will do to help rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions and halt North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The United States needs to work with Beijing. But Mr. Chen's safety and that of his family is not negotiable. There would be no crisis if China's autocrats didn't deny their people the most basic rights. China, eager for international respect, will further damage its reputation if it continues to abuse its own citizens. In 2006, Mr. Chen was sentenced to 51 months in prison on bogus charges of destroying property and assembling a crowd to disrupt traffic. His release in 2010 did not mean freedom. Local authorities put him under an extralegal form of house arrest with police surrounding his family farmhouse in Shandong Province. In a video posted on the Internet on Friday, Mr. Chen talks of being subjected to “brutal” treatment, including an incident when “more than a dozen men assaulted my wife” and also “violently assaulted me.” It is no wonder that he took desperate measures. According to the Times, he scaled the wall around his house, gave his guards the slip and made a 300-plus-mile journey to Beijing where American diplomats are believed to be sheltering him. But there are serious concerns about what has since happened to his wife, daughter and others who aided his escape. The Obama administration has frequently spoken out on Mr. Chen's behalf, including a speech last November in which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed alarm about his continued house arrest. On Sunday, after Mr. Chen sought American protection, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell was quietly dispatched to Beijing. At a news conference on Monday, President Obama prodded China to improve its human rights record, saying the country “will be stronger as it opens up and liberalizes its own system,” but he refused to comment on Mr. Chen's case. Chinese officials aren't speaking publicly about the case; we hope that means they are looking for a way out. And, for now, quiet diplomacy may hold the best chance for a solution. We don't know for sure what Mr. Chen wants — asylum in the United States or, as activists have said, assurances that would permit him to remain in China. In last week's video, he offered a possible face-saving path: He appealed to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to “personally intervene” by investigating the case and punishing “those who ordered county-level police and officials to break into my house, beat and hurt me, refused me medical attention — without any legal foundation or officers wearing uniforms.” That could allow Beijing to blame local authorities for the mistreatment, even though the culture of abuse and trampled rights starts at the top. Corrupt officials and disregard for the rule of law are the true threat to China, not Mr. Chen and others who courageously defend human rights. Mr. Wen says he wants political reforms. This is his moment to show that China is ready to embark on a more honorable and sustainable path.
