China rejects spy allegations linked to Nvidia chief and urges US to end tech restrictions
Beijing accused Washington of using espionage allegations to justify technology restrictions as Nvidia investigates chief executive Jensen Huang.
By Olga Menon ·
China has called on the United States to stop using what it described as fabricated espionage allegations to justify restrictions on technology, responding to claims involving a woman with whom Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang had an extramarital relationship. The dispute comes ahead of talks between the Chinese and US presidents next week.
At a press briefing on Thursday, November 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked about allegations that the woman was a Chinese spy. She urged Washington to stop “fabricating so-called spy narratives and using them as a pretext for imposing a technological blockade”. China’s Foreign Ministry has also rejected the claims as groundless speculation intended to damage the country’s reputation.
Mao said China’s advances in science and technology stemmed from independent innovation and open cooperation. She added that Beijing was prepared to work with Washington to carry out the consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump. Their trade agreement in Busan, South Korea, included easing tariffs and removing technology restrictions to reduce tensions after the two countries imposed retaliatory tariffs.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to meet next week during the APEC gathering in Shenzhen, in southern China. That meeting follows their agreement in Busan to de-escalate the trade dispute, with technology restrictions among the issues addressed by the two leaders.
Huang has acknowledged an extramarital affair. The woman involved was reported to be Alice Huang, previously an executive at Megaspeed, a company based in Singapore. US officials believe she worked for Chinese intelligence. Huang co-founded Nvidia and built it into the world’s leading supplier of chips used to power artificial intelligence.
Megaspeed responded on Thursday by saying it treats its obligations under US export control laws extremely seriously. The company also said it was committed to cooperating with the US government in a constructive and transparent manner.
The 63-year-old Nvidia chief has spent years campaigning against restrictions on the sale of advanced chips to China. Last year, Trump approved exports of Nvidia’s H200 chips to the country despite opposition from both Republican and Democratic politicians concerned about Chinese dominance in artificial intelligence technology.
Nvidia opened an investigation into Huang on Sunday, leaving his continued leadership of the company uncertain. The chipmaker is valued at $4.2 trillion, and whether it has a succession plan remains unclear.
