China is imposing a reign of terror on religious minorities—Christian, Tibetan Buddhist, Uighur Muslim, Falun Gong and others. The state is using everything from concentration camps to facial-recognition technology to ensure that the only worship and belief allowed is that which submits to Chinese Communist orthodoxy. People who resist this mandate are ruthlessly plowed over.

In contrast with China, the United States was founded on the principle that rights are rooted in nature and nature’s God—not in government fiat. The U.S. should counter China with a resolute commitment to advance not only economic fairness, but also human rights and freedom of conscience.

The massive scope of China’s crimes can make it seem as if there’s little Americans can do. We are tempted to see the Chinese people merely as units of economic possibility rather than as human beings in peril, with real lives and souls. While no quick strategy could completely roll back Beijing’s cruelty, there are many steps the U.S. could immediately take to confront China—morally as well as economically.

First, the U.S. government should insist that the Chinese government invite Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, to visit the Xinjiang province and the Tibet Autonomous Region. The trip must allow unsupervised meetings with religious groups and their leaders, including those now facing criminal charges or convictions.

Second, the U.S. should impose a financial penalty on the Chinese government officials responsible for the persecution. Congress and President Trump can use Magnitsky Act sanctions to freeze the international assets of Chen Quanguo, the leader of the persecution against the Uighurs, along with other high-level perpetrators of atrocities in China.

Third, U.S. lawmakers should follow through on their own explicit commitment to counter violations of religious freedom abroad. In 1998 Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act, which allows the executive branch to impose sanctions on nations it deems systematic violators of religious liberty. Last year the State Department labeled China a “Country of Particular Concern” under the law, and now the president should enact new sanctions directly linked to Beijing’s violations.

Finally, the U.S. should demand the release of China’s prisoners of conscience. The names of such prisoners should be made known throughout the free world, and President Trump should insist that they be freed—just as President Reagan and Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson did for persecuted Jews and political dissidents in the Soviet Union.

We will continue to debate how best to counter China economically and militarily. Yet surely Americans, the heirs of Jefferson, Madison, Truman and Reagan, can agree that we must begin the long and good work of confronting China morally. The persecuted people there do not bear the image of the Chinese Communist Party membership card, nor do they bear the image of a bar code for international commerce. They bear the image of a Creator above the reach of any state, no matter that it pretends to be a god.

Render unto China that which is China’s, but its people’s souls aren’t part of that deal.

Mr. Moore is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.