During his period in China, Rittenberg was twice imprisoned by the government under suspicion of spying for the American Government. His first imprisonment began in 1949 immediately before the formal surrender of Beijing to the Communists. Rittenberg said he was summoned to the capital and he went, expecting to play a role in promoting the Communist takeover to the rest of the world. In fact, Rittenberg was arrested and placed in solitary confinement, because Stalin had denounced him as a US spy. Rittenberg attributes his survival in solitary confinement to a poem by
Edwin Markham: :
They drew a circle that shut me out :
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout :
But love and I had the wit to win; :
We drew a circle that took them in. This first imprisonment lasted six years and resulted in his wife Wei Lin whom he had met in China divorcing him as she was told nothing about his disappearance. In 1957, he delivered a eulogy at the funeral of
Manya Reiss. He used his identity as an American-turned-communist in many speeches denouncing capitalism and imperialism and promoting Mao's policies. Later he was a supporter of the
Cultural Revolution and briefly associated with Mao's inner circle, leading a group of
rebels to take over the state broadcasting institution. On April 8, 1967, the ''
People's Daily'' published a long article written by him. == Career as business advisor ==