PORTLAND, Maine — For 39 years Charlie Butt was a fixture on the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, the coach of the swimming and soccer teams and a fierce competitor in his own right who, starting in his 50s, won 23 national squash championships.

It’s a good story, but the most interesting chapter of his life occurred decades earlier.

Butt grew up in Shanghai, a Chinese city the Japanese army invaded in 1937 and controlled until the end of World War II in 1945. A few years later the Chinese Communists seized power.

An exceptional athlete, Butt was invited to compete for the Chinese Olympic team in not one but two sports—swimming and basketball—in 1948. The offer came with conditions. He would have to join the Communist party, give up his Portuguese passport, and speak only Mandari

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