the Strategic Services Unit, or SSU, and had gone to China on some sort of secret mission. In late August Hugh Redmond had arrived in Shanghai. His work as an import-export trader with Henningsen and Company was merely a cover, providing him the perfect pretext for travel and contact with the Chinese.
Even in the midst of Chinaâs tumultuous revolution, he appeared to prosper. On August 22, 1946, he wrote his parents: âI am living in the French section of Shanghai on the Rue De Ratardâa very nice section of town. The house has large grounds and gardens, two tennis courts, a big patio, a bar in the dining room and plenty of recreational equipmentâ pool tables, etc. Countless Chinese servants are running around to do anything you want.â Unfortunately, wrote Redmond, he would soon have to vacate these opulent surroundings.
âNothing much to say, everything quiet here except the Communists,â he wrote. In a postscript he added, âMay not write for quite a while.â
âA whileâ stretched on month after month. A worried Ruth Redmond wrote the State Department in September 1949âlong before her sonâs arrestâto see if the government could provide any clue as to his whereabouts. A State Department employee, unaware of Redmondâs covert status, cabled Hong Kong and made inquiries of him with his employer, Henningsen and Company. A spokesman for the firm said they had no record of a Hugh Redmond working for them. The State Department concluded Ruth Redmond was confused.
But the response alarmed Ruth Redmond even more. She saw it for what it was, a slipup in the cover story. At her request the State Department made a second inquiry with the British consulate in Shanghai. They confirmed that Redmond did indeed work for Henningsen and that he was just fine. For the moment her concerns were eased.
But her underlying fears persisted. For two years the United States had been urging its citizens to leave mainland China. It could no longer offer them protection or assistance. Red China, as it was known, was not recognized by the United States. There was neither an American embassy in China nor any official U.S. presence there. Anyone who stayed did so at his or her own peril.
Like Mackiernan, Redmond understood that each day he stayed in China the risk increased. Finally his superiors decided it was time to pull the plug on his operation. An encrypted message was sent to his apartment. It read simply, âEnjoy the dance.â But Redmond delayed his departure a brief time longer, tidying up his affairs there.
At the time of Redmondâs arrest in the spring of 1951, there were an estimated 415 Americans still in mainland China. On April 30, 1951, four days after Redmondâs arrest, the State Department compiled a secret list of Americans believed to be imprisoned in China. There were then thought to be twenty-three, eighteen of whom were missionaries. Beside Redmondâs name was this notation: âmay be executed.â Four months later an embassy memo from Hong Kong to Secretary of State Acheson reported that âit was common belief among Chi [Chinese] and foreigners that Commies had proof against him and had executed him for espionage.â The rumors were credible enough. Virtually any American still in China was suspected of spying.
There was no way of knowing if Redmond was still alive. Americans in Chinese prisons were held incommunicado. They had no right to a lawyer. Some were tortured. Few had been formally charged, though many had been accused of a wide range of offensesâplotting against the government, spreading rumors, illegal possession of radios, currency violations, fomenting disorder, and even murdering Chinese orphans.
The U.S. government kept silent on Redmondâs fate, as it did with nearly all those believed to be imprisoned in China. Taking the issue public might make the Chinese even more resistant to the idea of eventually
Even in the midst of Chinaâs tumultuous revolution, he appeared to prosper. On August 22, 1946, he wrote his parents: âI am living in the French section of Shanghai on the Rue De Ratardâa very nice section of town. The house has large grounds and gardens, two tennis courts, a big patio, a bar in the dining room and plenty of recreational equipmentâ pool tables, etc. Countless Chinese servants are running around to do anything you want.â Unfortunately, wrote Redmond, he would soon have to vacate these opulent surroundings.
âNothing much to say, everything quiet here except the Communists,â he wrote. In a postscript he added, âMay not write for quite a while.â
âA whileâ stretched on month after month. A worried Ruth Redmond wrote the State Department in September 1949âlong before her sonâs arrestâto see if the government could provide any clue as to his whereabouts. A State Department employee, unaware of Redmondâs covert status, cabled Hong Kong and made inquiries of him with his employer, Henningsen and Company. A spokesman for the firm said they had no record of a Hugh Redmond working for them. The State Department concluded Ruth Redmond was confused.
But the response alarmed Ruth Redmond even more. She saw it for what it was, a slipup in the cover story. At her request the State Department made a second inquiry with the British consulate in Shanghai. They confirmed that Redmond did indeed work for Henningsen and that he was just fine. For the moment her concerns were eased.
But her underlying fears persisted. For two years the United States had been urging its citizens to leave mainland China. It could no longer offer them protection or assistance. Red China, as it was known, was not recognized by the United States. There was neither an American embassy in China nor any official U.S. presence there. Anyone who stayed did so at his or her own peril.
Like Mackiernan, Redmond understood that each day he stayed in China the risk increased. Finally his superiors decided it was time to pull the plug on his operation. An encrypted message was sent to his apartment. It read simply, âEnjoy the dance.â But Redmond delayed his departure a brief time longer, tidying up his affairs there.
At the time of Redmondâs arrest in the spring of 1951, there were an estimated 415 Americans still in mainland China. On April 30, 1951, four days after Redmondâs arrest, the State Department compiled a secret list of Americans believed to be imprisoned in China. There were then thought to be twenty-three, eighteen of whom were missionaries. Beside Redmondâs name was this notation: âmay be executed.â Four months later an embassy memo from Hong Kong to Secretary of State Acheson reported that âit was common belief among Chi [Chinese] and foreigners that Commies had proof against him and had executed him for espionage.â The rumors were credible enough. Virtually any American still in China was suspected of spying.
There was no way of knowing if Redmond was still alive. Americans in Chinese prisons were held incommunicado. They had no right to a lawyer. Some were tortured. Few had been formally charged, though many had been accused of a wide range of offensesâplotting against the government, spreading rumors, illegal possession of radios, currency violations, fomenting disorder, and even murdering Chinese orphans.
The U.S. government kept silent on Redmondâs fate, as it did with nearly all those believed to be imprisoned in China. Taking the issue public might make the Chinese even more resistant to the idea of eventually
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