Suspicions on Dr. Tsien Hsue-shen钱学森博士无端遭疑

西奥多·冯·卡门 左连凯

One day suspicion fell on Tsien. It may have begun when he was asked to give evidence against a research chemist named Sidney Weinbaum， who was being tried in Pasadena for perjury in a case having to do with Communism. Tsien had been a social acquaintance of the Weinbaums. He had recommended Weinbaum for a job， and he visited the Weinbaums’ home often to listen to classical music.

Tsien refused to testify against his friends. I am told that this turned the FBI’s attention to him （though it may have occurred earlier during the initial investigation of Weinbaum and his friends）. In any case， it resulted in July 1950 in the military services’ sudden and unexpected withdrawal of Tsien’s security clearance.

Tsien’s initial reaction was one of deep hurt. He sought an interview with President Lee DuBridge of Cal Tech and informed him that he couldn’t do research in jet propulsion without clearance and he added emotionally that he preferred to return to his family in China rather than remain in the States under such a cloud of suspicion. DuBridge calmed him down and advised him to appeal the decision. Tsien was not anxious to go through the appeal procedure because he felt， as did many of his friends， that in the tense atmosphere of the times an alien Chinese professor didn’t have much chance of winning the case. Besides， Tsien was very proud and he didn’t believe that he should have to prove to the authorities that he wasn’t a Communist. I believe my own reaction would have been about the same as Tsien’s if somebody had falsely accused me of Communism as a result of my brief association with the short-lived Bela Kun government of Hungary.

I was in Europe at the time Tsien’s clearance was lifted， but I heard about it from President DuBridge， whereupon I immediately wrote to Tsien， expressing my shock and telling him that I would do what I could for him. Many important people came to the support of Tsien. Dr. DuBridge consulted various authorities in Washington. Bill Zisch （later President of Aerojet-General Corporation） went to the Pentagon and reviewed the case with Admiral Inglis， Chief of Naval Intelligence， but was unable to make headway.

Tsien sought an audience with Dan Kimball， who as Undersecretary of the Navy， had ultimate responsibility for some of Tsien’s projects at the Jet Propulsion Center. Tsien informed Kimball that he intended to return to China if his clearance was not restored. When nothing happened， Tsien made up his mind. He phoned the Undersecretary and informed him that he was on his way.

Kimball became quite excited and notified the Immigration Service. He intimated to me later that he made this move because he was afraid that if Tsien went to China the Communists might strip him of his knowledge of United States military secrets in jet propulsion research. He also didn’t want the United States to lose a valuable scientist. I couldn’t help thinking that Kimball was also concerned that he might be in trouble with the Navy and Congress if it became known that Tsien went to Red China with the knowledge of the Undersecretary.

When Kimball informed Immigration officials of Tsien’s intentions， I am sure he expected no harm to befall Tsien. He thought quite probably that the Immigration agents would merely detain him briefly and let him return to Pasadena. Kimball in fact told me there was not the slightest evidence against Tsien， and the case would be cleared up on appeal. But I think Kimball was surprised and perhaps shocked at how quickly the whole thing got out of hand. One of my colleagues told me that the Immigration Service has a record as one of the most arbitrary of government departments， and it seemed to be true. They not only detained Tsien. They also searched him， treated him rudely， and held him for fourteen days in a detention room at Terminal Island. When he was released， it was on heavy bail.

On top of that， customs officials impounded his luggage， including 1800 pounds of books and notes. It was claimed that some classified material was among them and reported in the world’s press that a “Communist agent” had attempted to leave the country with secret documents. This was false， of course. In fact， I heard that Tsien had been conscientious enough to have Clark Millikan check all his papers before he packed them. Subsequently the U.S. Attorney in Pasadena went through all of Tsien’s material and cleared him of the charge of removing classified documents.

However， in October 1950， the Immigration Service ordered a deportation hearing under the McCarran Act， claiming that Tsien was a Communist alien and therefore had illegally reentered the United States. Thus this proud and cultured man， who had only a couple of years before received the highest praise from the Unite States government， found himself in the position of being mistrusted and in danger of being thrown out of the country he had adopted.

（原文選自： Theodore von Karman with Lee Edson. The Wind and Beyond， Little Brown and Company）

一天，钱学森突遭怀疑。这可能始于让他指证一名叫西德尼·维恩鲍姆的研究型化学家，维恩鲍姆因在一起与共产主义有关的案件中作伪证而正在帕萨迪纳受审。钱熟识维恩鲍姆一家，曾给维恩鲍姆推荐工作，也常去维恩鲍姆家欣赏古典音乐。

钱拒绝作不利于朋友的举证。我听说，联邦调查局的注意力因此转向了他（不过有可能早在调查维恩鲍姆及其朋友之初就已经注意到他了）。无论如何，1950年7月，军方因此突然意外撤销了钱的机密工作许可。

對此，钱最初感到深受伤害。他找到加州理工学院校长李·杜布里奇说，没有机密工作许可他无法做喷气推进方面的研究;他还情绪激动地补充说，他宁愿回到中国与家人团聚也不愿身陷怀疑待在美国。杜布里奇安抚他，建议他就这个决定提起申诉。钱不急于走申诉程序，因为他与许多朋友都认为，在当时那个紧张的氛围下，侨居的中国教授胜诉的可能性不大。况且，钱自尊心很强，认为他无须向当局证明自己不是共产党。我想，假如有人因为我与匈牙利短暂执政的贝拉·昆政权有简短交往而错误地指控我是共产党人，我也会有跟钱差不多的反应。

钱的机密工作许可被撤销时我在欧洲，但从杜布里奇校长那里听说了此事，于是我立即给钱写信，表达了我的震惊，并告诉他，我将尽力帮助他。许多重要人物纷纷表达对钱的支持。杜布里奇博士在华盛顿与各主管部门商讨。比尔·锡施（后任通用喷气发动机公司总裁）到国防部与海军情报部部长英格利斯上将讨论案情，但未能取得进展。

钱找到海军次长丹·金伯尔——钱在喷气推进中心部分项目的最终负责人——并告知他，如果工作许可无法恢复，自己想返回中国。事情毫无转机，钱下定了决心。他打电话给海军次长，告知自己已踏上归途。

金伯尔颇为激动，通知了移民局。他后来向我暗示，他做出这一举动是因为担心钱回到中国，共产党会夺取他在进行喷气推进研究中知道的美国军事机密。他也不希望美国失去一位宝贵的科学家。我不禁想，金伯尔也担心，如果露出风声钱是在他这位次长知情的情况下回到红色中国，海军和国会找他麻烦。

金伯尔告知移民官钱的打算时，我相信他没有料到钱会大难临头。他可能认为，移民部门只会暂时拘留他，然后让他回帕萨迪纳。事实上，金伯尔对我说，没有不利于钱的一丁点儿证据，案子会通过申诉解决。但我认为，事情这么快就失去控制是金伯尔意想不到的，或许还使他震惊不已。有位同事告诉我，移民局是公认的最专横的政府部门之一，这似乎一点儿不假。他们不仅拘留了钱，还搜查他，粗鲁无礼地对待他，在终端岛的拘禁室里将他拘押了14天。后来缴纳了巨额保释金，他才获释。

更有甚者，海关官员没收了他的行李，包括1800磅的书和笔记。有人声称，钱的行李中夹带了一些机密资料;全球媒体报道说，一“共产党间谍”企图携带机密文件离开美国。这当然是假的。事实上，我听说钱十分谨慎地在将其所有论文打包前让克拉克·密立根检查了一遍。后来，帕萨迪纳的联邦检察官检查了钱的所有资料，撤销了对他拿走机密文件的指控。

但是，1950年10月，移民局依据《麦卡伦法案》下令举行驱逐听证会，指控钱是侨居的共产党人，再次进入美国属非法。就这样，几年前刚刚受到美国政府最高嘉奖的这位骄傲而有教养的学者，如今发现自己遭到猜忌，并面临被他选择的这个第二故乡驱逐出境的危险。                                   □