AP Photo

The escape of blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng from an oppressive house arrest in his village to apparent safety under the protection of U.S. diplomats in Beijing is a significant victory for human-rights activists, but it is one fraught with danger. The state security apparatus and local officials in Chen’s home of Shandong province are expected to react harshly to Chen’s flight and punish friends and family who may have helped him. “Although I am free, I am dogged by fear,” Chen said in a video appeal to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. “My family, my mother, my wife and my child are still in their evil clutches. They have long persecuted us. Because I have escaped, they may carry out crazed retaliation.”