08/06/01 Scientific Life: Qian Xuesen (I)

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One day in June 1950 in Washington, Under-Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball, received a visit that disturbed him greatly. His visitor was a Chinese scientist named Qian Xuesen, and as soon as Qian left his office, Kimball called the Justice Department. “We can’t let Qian Xuesen go,” he said. “He knows too much. I’d rather shoot him dead than let him leave America. Wherever he goes, he equals five divisions.”

Qian Xuesen, the man who once made the American government so nervous, is 96 years old now, and rarely appears in the media. But his name is still remembered, for the contribution he made to China’s aerospace development.

Qian Xuesen’s contribution to China’s aerospace industry was greater than merely naming it. There are those who say that if he hadn’t returned to China when he did, China’s aerospace industry would never have reached its current level of development. However, his return was fraught with difficulties.