On September 17, 1955, at the port of Los Angeles in the United States, the “Cleveland President” cruise ship slowly sailed away from the shore. On the deck stood a Chinese scholar with a haggard face but firm eyes, along with his family. He was Qian Xuesen, who had been under house arrest in the United States for five years.
Facing numerous reporters, Qian Xuesen said: “In the future, I plan to do my utmost to help the Chinese people build their own country so that they can live a dignified and happy life.”
The arrival of this moment was backed by the tremendous efforts of the Chinese government and people. To allow Qian Xuesen to return to China smoothly, at the 1955 Geneva Conference, our country once offered conditions that the United States could not refuse.
Qian Xuesen was born on December 11, 1911, in Shanghai, and three days later returned to Hangzhou with his parents. He spent his childhood in Hangzhou’s Fanggu Garden No. 2. This was a Jiangnan-style three-entry courtyard with white walls and black tiles, which was Qian Xuesen’s mother’s dowry.
Qian Xuesen’s father, Qian Junfu, was an educator who had studied in Japan at the Tokyo Higher Normal School, where he studied normal education and became acquainted with cultural figures such as Lu Xun and Xu Shouchang.
After returning to China, Qian Junfu successively taught and held positions at Zhejiang Two-Level Normal School, Zhejiang Provincial First Middle School, and other schools, and also worked in departments such as the Beiyang Government’s Ministry of Education and Zhejiang Provincial Education Department.
Qian Xuesen later recalled: “My father was my first teacher. He understood modern education very well. On one hand, he let me study science and engineering, taking the path of technological power; on the other hand, he sent me to study music and painting, these art classes.”
His mother, Zhang Lanjuan, was an “emotionally rich, simple and kind woman, and a mother who guided her children to do good deeds through her own exemplary behavior… Her loving heart had a profound and continuous influence on Qian Xuesen.”
In September 1929, Qian Xuesen ranked third in total score and was admitted to the Mechanical Engineering College of Jiaotong University, studying railway mechanical engineering. At that time, he held the ideal of “saving the country through industry,” paying attention to trains speeding on laid tracks, and determined to devote himself to “saving the country through railways.”
During his studies at Jiaotong University, Qian Xuesen received strict training. He excelled in mathematics, physics, and mechanics, laying a solid foundation for his future scientific career.
In 1934, Qian Xuesen graduated from Jiaotong University with excellent grades and entered the aviation industry. In 1935, he went to the United States to study, entering the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to study aeronautical engineering.
In 1936, Qian Xuesen transferred to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), studying under the famous aerodynamics master Theodore von Kármán, and began researching rocket technology.
During his time in the US, Qian Xuesen made outstanding contributions to aerodynamics, rocket technology, and space engineering. He participated in the US military’s rocket research project and became one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
However, after the founding of New China in 1949, Qian Xuesen decided to return to China to serve. But the US government, fearing he would bring advanced technology back, placed him under house arrest for five years.
During house arrest, Qian Xuesen endured tremendous pressure but remained firm in his determination to return. He wrote to the Chinese government, hoping for assistance.
To repatriate Qian Xuesen and other scientists, the Chinese government made unremitting efforts. In the Geneva Sino-US ambassadorial talks starting in August 1955, Chinese delegation member Wang Bingnan used Qian Xuesen’s letter as evidence to sternly negotiate with US representative Johnson.
Faced with Qian Xuesen’s handwritten letter, the Americans were speechless. Under the Chinese government’s resolute demands, the US finally agreed to Qian Xuesen’s return.
On August 4, 1955, the US Immigration Bureau issued a notice allowing Qian Xuesen to return. On September 17, he boarded the “Cleveland President” cruise ship with his wife Jiang Ying and two young children, embarking on the journey back to the motherland. Accompanying Qian Xuesen were 22 Chinese scholars and students, all approved to return in this diplomatic contest.
On October 8, 1955, Qian Xuesen and his family finally arrived in Shenzhen. After a brief visit to his father in Shanghai, he reached Beijing on October 28.
After returning, Qian Xuesen immediately threw himself into New China’s construction. On February 16, 1956, Qian Xuesen drafted the “Opinions on Establishing China’s National Defense Aviation Industry” and submitted it, which became the programmatic document for China’s missile startup period.
When asked if the Chinese could develop missiles themselves, Qian Xuesen immediately replied: “What’s impossible? What foreigners can do, can’t the Chinese do? Are the Chinese shorter than them by a head?”
On November 5, 1960, China’s “Dongfeng-1” soared into the sky, marking China’s possession of its own missile. From October 16, 1964, to April 24, 1970, under the efforts of Qian Xuesen and others, China successively succeeded in the first atomic bomb explosion, the first hydrogen bomb aerial explosion test, and the first artificial satellite launch.
On December 1, 2011, the Hangzhou Qian Xuesen Former Residence was officially open to the public.
To this day, the property owner’s column of this former residence still registers “Qian Xuesen,” witnessing the patriotic feelings of an outstanding scientist across time and space.
Reading Qian Xuesen’s sigh again: “I believe I can definitely return to the motherland, and now, I have finally returned!”
Behind this sentence is five years of diplomatic struggle in resistance, a nation’s firm determination to recruit its own talents, and a scientist’s unchanging patriotic sincerity.
