(CBS News) BEIJING - A top deputy to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in China Monday, trying to quiet a diplomatic uproar.

Reports say a Chinese dissident who's been missing for a week is now under U.S. protection in Beijing.

One human rights activist in the U.S. says both sides are working on a deal to allow that dissident to leave China, before an important series of economic meetings later this week.

The diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Washington centers around Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights activist who fled house arrest in China last week. Now, he's probably hiding inside the U.S. embassy in Beijing, though neither the U.S. nor China will confirm that.

The activist's escape couldn't have come at a trickier time.

Clinton and 200 other top U.S. officials are to descend on Beijing this week for meetings meant to boost bilateral relations.

Instead, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is said to be involved in tense negotiations over Chen's fate