President Cleveland

Qian Xuesen, Hua, Guo Yonghuai and Zhu Guangya. More than 50 years ago, President Cleveland boarded the same ship and began a tortuous journey from San Francisco to Hongkong, China, which also began to affect the history of China. ...

President Cleveland: the dream of returning to China of China scientists studying in the United States

Liang heard the news of the establishment of New China on the radio.

1949 In September, President Cleveland made an ordinary voyage-starting from San Francisco, passing through Honolulu, Yokohama, Manila, China and Hongkong, and then reaching Shanghai. This is the main mode of transportation from the United States to China, and this time, its destination has been changed to Hongkong, because the political situation in China is changing. Among the more than 500 passengers on board, more than 20 students studying in China are particularly eye-catching, and they are immersed in the joy of going home. Among them is a 25-year-old young man named Liang, the youngest son of Liang Qichao, a famous politician and thinker in the late Qing Dynasty. At this time, he returned to the motherland after eight years' absence with a doctorate in automatic control that he had just obtained from the University of Cincinnati.

1949 On September 30th, President Cleveland was sailing in the Pacific Ocean near Asia. Liang fiddled with the radio on the deck and listened to the program of Asia Channel. At this moment, he heard a strange voice on the radio, introducing the national flag of New China: "On the five-star red flag, one corner of each of the four small five-pointed stars is opposite to the center of the big five-pointed star, indicating unity around a center. The stars on the red background are yellow and bright ... "There is a message on the radio: Soon, they will set foot on a new country-the people of China and China. People who heard the news were very excited and held a celebration party on the ship to celebrate the birth of the new China.

Hua published an open letter on his way back to China.

1950 in March, "President Cleveland" started a new voyage, and dozens of overseas students from China embarked on the journey of returning home. This is the second batch of overseas students who returned to China by the "Cleveland President" after the founding of New China. At this time, American media reported that it was on this ship that an important person was heading for Red China. The important figure reported by American media is mathematician Hua. When New China was founded, he made the decision to return to China without hesitation. American media commented many years later: "Hua could have made more contributions to mathematics if he had stayed in the United States, but his return to China is very important to mathematics in China. It is hard to imagine what the mathematical society in China would be like if he did not return to China. "

1950 In late March, Hua arrived in Hong Kong aboard the President of Cleveland. During his stay in Hong Kong, Hua wrote an open letter to students studying in the United States, which was quickly broadcast to the world through Xinhua News Agency. He wrote in his letter: "Although Liangyuan is good, it is not the hometown of long residence. Come and go! My friends, we are all in an era of great achievements. If we have to go back sooner or later, why not go back early and put our energy into useful use? In short, in order to choose the truth, we should go back; For the sake of the nation, we should go back; To serve the people, we should go back; Just for personal venting, you'd better go back as soon as possible! " Later, Hua suddenly realized that his open letter might increase the resistance of other international students to return to China. After reading this letter, the United States will prevent more scientists from returning home.

The United States prohibits foreign students in science, engineering, agriculture and medicine from returning to China.

Soon, Hua's worry unfortunately became a reality. 1June, 950, the Korean War broke out. Four months later, Chinese people's Volunteer Army entered the Korean War, and China and the United States became face-to-face rivals. 195110/On 9 October, the US Immigration Bureau issued an order to prohibit China students from leaving the country according to the Entry and Exit Restrictions Act passed by the US Congress, which clearly stipulates that international students majoring in science, engineering, agriculture and medicine are prohibited from returning to Red China. If they try to leave, they will be fined up to $5,000 or imprisoned for five years. Nine foreign students from China aboard the Cleveland President didn't know about the change of American policy. Among them, Xie, a 3 1 year-old graduate of Stanford University in the United States, is still immersed in the joy of going home. I will return to Beijing in 10 days to see my wife and 4-year-old son.

When passing through Honolulu, President Cleveland made a short stop there, and everyone disembarked for sightseeing. At 5 pm, Xie Jialin and eight other China students boarded the Cleveland President again to continue their voyage. At this time, the FBI staff are waiting for them on the boat. Xie Jialin received an order from the US Immigration Bureau to prohibit China students from leaving the country, and the staff asked to check his luggage.

There are two boxes in Xie Jialin's luggage, which contain some physical experimental instruments he bought in America. He walked into the cabin with the FBI staff and felt uneasy. In the luggage room, Xie Jialin showed them one of his boxes. In fact, he can't remember which box is filled with instruments. Luckily, he opened a box full of books. Because there are too many luggage, it is too difficult to move the remaining boxes. The FBI staff put Xie Jialin on the "President Cleveland" and waited for the ship to return to the United States for inspection. Xie Jialin was sent back to the United States on the grounds that the technical personnel of the belligerent countries who had military intelligence were not allowed to leave the United States. From 1950 to 1954, more than 100 China students who were preparing to return to China were detained by the US government, and thousands of them were prohibited from leaving the country.

Qian Xuesen's bumpy road to return to China

1in the summer of 954, The New York Times published a letter from an American citizen, asking the American government to make a deal with Red China in exchange for 12 Americans stranded in China who were captured by our army during the Korean War. This news caused great repercussions. In August 1955, 1, the first ambassadorial talks between China and the United States were held in Geneva. The content of the talks between the two sides is about the exchange of civilians. Due to the hostility between the two sides, the talks were once deadlocked, and the United States denied preventing students and scientific and technological personnel from returning to China. At this time, the delegation of China presented a letter of help from Qian Xuesen to the United States.

At this time in the United States, Qian Xuesen was already an outstanding young scientist with a good reputation. The victory of the civil liberation war made Qian Xuesen see the hope of the country. At this time, he resigned from almost all jobs and positions involving US military secrets. 1950, Qian Xuesen was stopped in San Francisco when he was preparing to leave for home. All his luggage was detained by the customs, and the US Department of Justice immediately signed an arrest warrant. As a criminal, he was detained 15 before he was released on bail pending trial. After he was released from prison, the FBI and the Immigration Bureau continued to monitor and track Qian Xuesen according to the McCarthy Act. Every month, he must report to the Immigration Bureau to prove that he has not fled the United States. Usually, his range of activities is defined within 30 miles of his residence. In the memory of Qian Xuesen's children, his father hardly took them out of the city.

1955 In the summer, a waiter in a China restaurant went to Qian Xuesen's residence with a basket of vegetables. After he left, Qian Xuesen found a "China Pictorial" in the vegetable basket, reporting the grand occasion of China's celebration of "May 1" Labor Day. Among them, a photo caught Qian Xuesen's attention. Among the photos of state leaders at Tiananmen Gate, he found an acquaintance, Chen Shutong, then vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), who was a friend of Qian Xuesen's father. Qian Xuesen immediately wrote such a letter: "It has been five years since he was detained by the US government, and not a day goes by that he doesn't want to go back to China to participate in the great construction." The envelope was written by Qian Xuesen's wife, Jiang Ying, imitating the handwriting of the children. Send the letter to his sister in Belgium first, and then to Qian Xuesen's father in Belgium.

After receiving the letter from Qian Xuesen's father, Chen Shutong immediately sent it to Zhongnanhai and put it on Zhou Enlai's desk. The letter was quickly sent to Geneva, while the ambassadorial talks between China and the United States on the exchange of civilians between the two sides were struggling. Just as the American government quibbled that there was no evidence to prove that China people living in the United States wanted to go back, our representative showed Qian Xuesen's letter, and the American side was speechless. In order to make the talks enter a substantive stage, in September 1955 and 10, China made concessions and released 12 American pilots first. Soon, the United States agreed to let Qian Xuesen return to China.

After receiving the notice, Qian Xuesen immediately bought a ticket for the fastest sailing ship "President Cleveland". Before boarding the ship, the American authorities announced to Qian Xuesen that they could not leave President Cleveland all the way, otherwise they could not be responsible for his personal safety. 1955 September 17, "President Cleveland" set out from San Francisco Port, and Qian Xuesen finally embarked on a journey to return home. When the ship reached the high seas, Qian Xuesen received a telegram from his father at home: "I am deeply gratified to know that you have returned to China. The government will entrust someone to pick you up at the border station. " 1955101On October 8th, Qian Xuesen walked through Luohu Port, holding a guitar in his hand, and was in a good mood. A year later, he became the first dean of the Fifth Hospital of the Ministry of National Defense, which opened the prelude to the development of rockets and missiles in China.

In May 2006, the reporter found the entry records of the students studying in the United States in the 1950s in the Guangdong Provincial Archives. In that special era, nearly 2000 people returned to the motherland through various channels and made great contributions to their best years. The "President Cleveland" is a very ordinary ship, but more than 50 years ago, it brought back groups of special passengers for the newly born people of China and China. Their return to China has influenced the history of China and changed the process of scientific and technological development in China. After sailing for 25 years, the ship was demolished, but it will remain in the memory of those special passengers and in the historical archives forever.