The Wheels of Justice

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When the United States sponsors a resolution condemning China at the meeting of the United Nations commission on human rights that opens in Geneva this week, not much is going to happen. Washington has never been able to muster enough support to pass such motions, and this year the chances are even slimmer. The 53-member commission now includes such prickly countries as Libya, Vietnam, Cuba, Syria and Saudi Arabia. "Five of the members have the worst possible scars on their human- rights records," says John Kamm, an activist who works to free Chinese political prisoners. "And China isn't even one of them."

In fact, while the world's attention is focused on Geneva, more might be happening behind the scenes in Beijing. For years reformers have gingerly explored ways to relax some of China's worst …