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墨書 Inktalez
Qian Xuesen was completely in the dark about everything.
While his belongings were being turned upside down, he flew to Washington as arranged by the California Institute of Technology to meet with Deputy Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball.
Qian Xuesen shared his experiences with Kimball, and when he reached an emotional point, he even shed tears. However, aside from introducing him to a lawyer, Kimball offered no useful advice.
Having had enough of being tossed around like a football, Qian Xuesen firmly emphasized his determination to return to China during his second meeting with Kimball.
Kimball's response was, "You can't leave; you are too valuable."
Another famous remark he made about Qian Xuesen, which we are quite familiar with, was, "Wherever he is, he is worth five divisions."
Understanding his value, as soon as Qian Xuesen left Washington, Kimball called the Department of Justice to warn them that Qian Xuesen knew too much and absolutely must not be allowed to leave the United States.
At that moment, Qian Xuesen was still flying from Washington to Los Angeles.
Around 9:30 PM on August 23rd, just after landing at Los Angeles Airport, he was detained.
A law enforcement officer stopped him and presented a decree signed by the United States government prohibiting him from leaving the country.
Qian Xuesen was stunned. What followed was immense anger.
He realized that it was impossible to part ways with the United States amicably.
Since he couldn't leave, surely his family could. Qian Xuesen considered letting Jiang Ying and their two children return first while he stayed behind to observe how things would unfold.
Even that was not permitted.
The customs authorities applied to the court to detain his eight boxes of documents, citing violations of the Export Administration Act, Neutrality Act, and Espionage Act. The application was approved.
Then, on August 25, the Immigration Bureau signed an arrest warrant for Qian Xuesen. However, they had not yet acted; they merely intensified their surveillance, with agents following him wherever he went.
At this point, Qian Xuesen was still unaware that the issue lay with his checked luggage. He only learned that his belongings had been detained when he read about it in the newspaper, which was when he first realized why the United States had prohibited him from leaving.
He told reporters, "I don’t understand why they would inspect my luggage. I have no idea about the whole situation."
So what about those classified documents?
Qian Xuesen assured that he had carefully reviewed the documents he intended to take with him. Any classified materials were sealed in his office and locked in a cabinet, with the key handed over to someone else.
The rest were not classified documents at all; they were merely sketches, commonly used logarithmic tables, and his own teaching notes accumulated over the years.
"There are no codebooks, no secret manuals, and no design blueprints," Qian Xuesen promised. "I am very certain that I never attempted to take any classified documents or leave this country through any illegal means."
But he could not convince those who held the power of life and death over him.
Government investigators spent countless hours and manpower reviewing Qian Xuesen's documents, which included over 100 books and a large number of academic papers, government documents, and industry reports in Chinese, English, German, and Russian.
The investigators took three days to photograph these documents in microfilm format, capturing more than 12,000 images. The resulting catalog alone spanned 26 pages.
However, determining whether this material was classified exceeded the capabilities of the investigators; even consulting experts yielded differing opinions.
After all, for a world-class technical expert like Qian Xuesen, possessing such a wealth of information was hardly unusual.
However, they found nine large scrapbooks inside, filled with information that Qian Xuesen had collected about the United States' atomic energy program and nuclear espionage cases.
This was quite sensitive.
Moreover, some insisted that in order to prevent potential enemies—namely, the newly established People's Republic of China—from benefiting, all the materials that Qian Xuesen possessed, including his intellect, should be classified as confidential documents.
Thus, the simplest solution was to detain Qian Xuesen in the United States.
On September 7, 1950, agents from the Immigration Bureau arrived at Qian Xuesen's home.
The agents first questioned him about his personal background. Qian Xuesen formally stated that he had never joined the American Communist Party and that his trip back to China in 1947 was solely to visit his father and father-in-law.
Nevertheless, the agents arrested Qian Xuesen on charges of concealing his Communist affiliation and illegally entering the country in 1947.
Witnessing his father being taken away, Qian Xuesen's son cowered in a corner, trembling. Several friends rushed over to support Qian Xuesen, but they were powerless to help; they could only watch as he was surrounded by agents and shoved into a car heading for prison.
This was the most humiliating moment of Qian Xuesen's life.
Years later, the agent who arrested him recalled that at that moment, Qian Xuesen showed no fear; instead, his face bore an expression of relief, as if to say, "Well, it's finally over."
But he was mistaken. This was not the end; it felt more like just the beginning.
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