www.gateway2china.com/report/qian/hong_suo.htm
The prosecution's attitude, through hours-long sessions, indicated it was unlikely that Tsien could convince the Government he was not a Communist party member. The Government keyed its case to Exhibit 6, the registration form. It never proved Tsien had submitted an application to join the party, much less that he signed one. The Government's own witnesses testified anyone could have filled out a registration for a prospective member, even without the prospect's knowledge. And Bill Ward Kimple, a star Government witness, had never laid eyes on Tsien until 12 years after he found that registration. The original never turned up. The Government's case was based on the registration in the handwriting of Capt. Hynes of the Red Squad.
Vainly, Tsien's counsel, Grant B. Cooper, insisted that the whole case rested on hearsay and testimony of professed ex-Communists. Doggedly protesting, Cooper entered 202 objections to the Government's questions. Almost invariably, he was overruled by hearing officer Roy Waddell.
Tsien, sometimes struggling with the language, seemed mystified by the assault tactics of an American prosecutor. Del Guercio was relentless.
"Do you owe your allegiance to Communist China?"
"I do not," Tsien replied.
"To whom do you owe allegiance?"
"I owe allegiance to the people of China."
Del Guercio sparred with Tsien for a moment and then demanded: "In the event of a conflict between this country and Red China, would you fight against Red China for the United States?"
Tsien parried. The situation had not presented itself. There was no such war. Again, Tsien's lawyer protested. His client would need time to think about such a question.
"We will wait here six months," Del Guercio snapped.
But Tsien volunteered that it would take only moments. The room fell silent. Five minutes ticked by. Finally, Tsien said, "I can't answer the question now."
"You can't or won't answer the question now?"
"I can -- c-a-n -- answer the question now," replied Tsien, stung, "and the answer is as follows: I have already said that my essential allegiance is to the people of China, and if the war between the United States and Communist China is for the good of the people of China, which I think is very likely to be, so then I will fight on the side of the United States. No question about that."
"But you will make the decision first? You will determine whether it is for the good of the Chinese people?" Del Guercio asked.
"That decision, yes, I would make."
"You will not permit the Government of the United States to make that decision for you?"
"No, certainly not."
That apparently was the Government's case.
The hearings dragged into the spring of 1951, and on April 26, the hearing officer declared his decision: Tsien was an alien, a native and citizen of China, who was "subject to deportation on the grounds that he has been found to have been, prior to entry ... an alien who was a member of the Communist Party of the United States."
Tsien could not leave Los Angeles County without permission. He was declared subject to expulsion, but far too valuable to expel.
Virtually a prisoner, Tsien remarkably snapped out of his mood of depression and plunged into new work during his final years in the United States. He found the stamina to turn out a technical paper every month for four months in a row, as if this outpouring of labor were the only way he could suppress his resentment.
Some newspapers speculate that Tsien was traded for 11 U.S. airmen captured by Red China
FINALLY, AFTER FIVE YEARS, Tsien was able to close his California home, free to leave the country. The Justice Department evidently had decided that five years had been enough to decontaminate him and nullify his menace.
The prosecution's attitude, through hours-long sessions, indicated it was unlikely that Tsien could convince the Government he was not a Communist party member. The Government keyed its case to Exhibit 6, the registration form. It never proved Tsien had submitted an application to join the party, much less that he signed one. The Government's own witnesses testified anyone could have filled out a registration for a prospective member, even without the prospect's knowledge. And Bill Ward Kimple, a star Government witness, had never laid eyes on Tsien until 12 years after he found that registration. The original never turned up. The Government's case was based on the registration in the handwriting of Capt. Hynes of the Red Squad.
Vainly, Tsien's counsel, Grant B. Cooper, insisted that the whole case rested on hearsay and testimony of professed ex-Communists. Doggedly protesting, Cooper entered 202 objections to the Government's questions. Almost invariably, he was overruled by hearing officer Roy Waddell.
Tsien, sometimes struggling with the language, seemed mystified by the assault tactics of an American prosecutor. Del Guercio was relentless.
"Do you owe your allegiance to Communist China?"
"I do not," Tsien replied.
"To whom do you owe allegiance?"
"I owe allegiance to the people of China."
Del Guercio sparred with Tsien for a moment and then demanded: "In the event of a conflict between this country and Red China, would you fight against Red China for the United States?"
Tsien parried. The situation had not presented itself. There was no such war. Again, Tsien's lawyer protested. His client would need time to think about such a question.
"We will wait here six months," Del Guercio snapped.
But Tsien volunteered that it would take only moments. The room fell silent. Five minutes ticked by. Finally, Tsien said, "I can't answer the question now."
"You can't or won't answer the question now?"
"I can -- c-a-n -- answer the question now," replied Tsien, stung, "and the answer is as follows: I have already said that my essential allegiance is to the people of China, and if the war between the United States and Communist China is for the good of the people of China, which I think is very likely to be, so then I will fight on the side of the United States. No question about that."
"But you will make the decision first? You will determine whether it is for the good of the Chinese people?" Del Guercio asked.
"That decision, yes, I would make."
"You will not permit the Government of the United States to make that decision for you?"
"No, certainly not."
That apparently was the Government's case.
The hearings dragged into the spring of 1951, and on April 26, the hearing officer declared his decision: Tsien was an alien, a native and citizen of China, who was "subject to deportation on the grounds that he has been found to have been, prior to entry ... an alien who was a member of the Communist Party of the United States."
Tsien could not leave Los Angeles County without permission. He was declared subject to expulsion, but far too valuable to expel.
Virtually a prisoner, Tsien remarkably snapped out of his mood of depression and plunged into new work during his final years in the United States. He found the stamina to turn out a technical paper every month for four months in a row, as if this outpouring of labor were the only way he could suppress his resentment.
Some newspapers speculate that Tsien was traded for 11 U.S. airmen captured by Red China
FINALLY, AFTER FIVE YEARS, Tsien was able to close his California home, free to leave the country. The Justice Department evidently had decided that five years had been enough to decontaminate him and nullify his menace.
