Suspicions on Dr. Tsien Hsue-shen錢學森博士無端遭疑

西奧多·馮·卡門 左連凱

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，錢學森突遭懷疑。這可能始于讓他指證一名叫西德尼·維恩鮑姆的研究型化學家，維恩鮑姆因在一起與共產主義有關的案件中作偽證而正在帕薩迪納受審。錢熟識維恩鮑姆一家，曾給維恩鮑姆推薦工作，也常去維恩鮑姆家欣賞古典音樂。

錢拒絕作不利于朋友的舉證。我聽說，聯邦調查局的注意力因此轉向了他（不過有可能早在調查維恩鮑姆及其朋友之初就已經注意到他了）。無論如何，1950年7月，軍方因此突然意外撤銷了錢的機密工作許可。

對此，錢最初感到深受傷害。他找到加州理工學院校長李·杜布里奇說，沒有機密工作許可他無法做噴氣推進方面的研究;他還情緒激動地補充說，他寧愿回到中國與家人團聚也不愿身陷懷疑待在美國。杜布里奇安撫他，建議他就這個決定提起申訴。錢不急于走申訴程序，因為他與許多朋友都認為，在當時那個緊張的氛圍下，僑居的中國教授勝訴的可能性不大。況且，錢自尊心很強，認為他無須向當局證明自己不是共產黨。我想，假如有人因為我與匈牙利短暫執政的貝拉·昆政權有簡短交往而錯誤地指控我是共產黨人，我也會有跟錢差不多的反應。

錢的機密工作許可被撤銷時我在歐洲，但從杜布里奇校長那里聽說了此事，于是我立即給錢寫信，表達了我的震驚，并告訴他，我將盡力幫助他。許多重要人物紛紛表達對錢的支持。杜布里奇博士在華盛頓與各主管部門商討。比爾·錫施（后任通用噴氣發動機公司總裁）到國防部與海軍情報部部長英格利斯上將討論案情，但未能取得進展。

錢找到海軍次長丹·金伯爾——錢在噴氣推進中心部分項目的最終負責人——并告知他，如果工作許可無法恢復，自己想返回中國。事情毫無轉機，錢下定了決心。他打電話給海軍次長，告知自己已踏上歸途。

金伯爾頗為激動，通知了移民局。他后來向我暗示，他做出這一舉動是因為擔心錢回到中國，共產黨會奪取他在進行噴氣推進研究中知道的美國軍事機密。他也不希望美國失去一位寶貴的科學家。我不禁想，金伯爾也擔心，如果露出風聲錢是在他這位次長知情的情況下回到紅色中國，海軍和國會找他麻煩。

金伯爾告知移民官錢的打算時，我相信他沒有料到錢會大難臨頭。他可能認為，移民部門只會暫時拘留他，然后讓他回帕薩迪納。事實上，金伯爾對我說，沒有不利于錢的一丁點兒證據，案子會通過申訴解決。但我認為，事情這么快就失去控制是金伯爾意想不到的，或許還使他震驚不已。有位同事告訴我，移民局是公認的最專橫的政府部門之一，這似乎一點兒不假。他們不僅拘留了錢，還搜查他，粗魯無禮地對待他，在終端島的拘禁室里將他拘押了14天。后來繳納了巨額保釋金，他才獲釋。

更有甚者，海關官員沒收了他的行李，包括1800磅的書和筆記。有人聲稱，錢的行李中夾帶了一些機密資料;全球媒體報道說，一“共產黨間諜”企圖攜帶機密文件離開美國。這當然是假的。事實上，我聽說錢十分謹慎地在將其所有論文打包前讓克拉克·密立根檢查了一遍。后來，帕薩迪納的聯邦檢察官檢查了錢的所有資料，撤銷了對他拿走機密文件的指控。

但是，1950年10月，移民局依據《麥卡倫法案》下令舉行驅逐聽證會，指控錢是僑居的共產黨人，再次進入美國屬非法。就這樣，幾年前剛剛受到美國政府最高嘉獎的這位驕傲而有教養的學者，如今發現自己遭到猜忌，并面臨被他選擇的這個第二故鄉驅逐出境的危險。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?□