The Qian family in 1955

Allegations that Qian was a Communist effectively led to the suspension of his security clearance with the US Army, but his actual political allegiance at that time remains a mystery today. He was under house arrest for three years before leaving for Communist China in September 1955. He led a remarkable career there and became the father of the Chinese missile program. Qian’s cousin, Qian Xueju, chose to become a U.S. citizen and later a chief engineer at Boeing. Xueju’s son, Roger Y. Tsien, was an acclaimed American chemist who won the Nobel Prize in 2008.

Online museum of the Chinese Academicians

September 1955

Atlas Xu