China: China: First Person: Blind Justice

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The news that Chen was sentenced, after a two-hour trial, to more than four years in prison has left his supporters stunned. His wife Yuan Weijing, who has been under house arrest for months, says her 3-year-old son tells her he doesn't want to start supper until his father comes home. "Today," she said over a cell phone, "I had to tell my child that his father won't be joining him for dinner for a long time."

I had been worried how Yuan would receive our call. I wondered whether she would blame the international media for publicizing the forcible family-planning campaign, perhaps prompting Linyi officials to take out their anger on her husband. But Yuan wasn't bitter. "I am proud of my husband," she said, "and I want the outside world to know what is truly happening."

As I packed up the final boxes for my move from Shanghai, I couldn't shake the disgust I felt over Chen's sentencing. But I was also moved by Yuan's conviction that the outside world needs to know what is happening in Linyi. Hers is a faith based on a system that has not yet taken root in China, one in which justice prevails and heroes like her husband are honored. If Yuan can have hope in China's future, I should too. I can't pack that sense of optimism in a box, but it is something I will treasure long after I leave.