• Analysis
China Accuses US of Fabricating Nvidia Spy Claims to Justify Tech 'Blockade'
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that the United States has fabricated 'spy' narratives - including claims around Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang - as a pretext for a technology blockade, a charge that lands in the middle of an unresolved fight over US chip export policy to China.
Beijing's accusation at Thursday's briefing
At her regular briefing on Thursday, Mao Ning of the foreign ministry said China's technological progress is driven by independent innovation and open cooperation, rejecting reports that a woman Nvidia's chief executive had an affair with was a Chinese intelligence asset.
"The US side should stop fabricating such 'spy' narratives as a pretext for imposing a technological blockade."
Beijing has dismissed the spying claims about Jensen Huang as "groundless speculation" and "an attempt to smear China".
The chip export fight behind the row
The accusation sits inside a live policy dispute over American chip sales to China:
- •President Donald Trump last year cleared Nvidia's H200 chips for export to China, over objections from hawks in both parties who fear Beijing winning the AI dominance race.
- •Jensen Huang has spent years lobbying against curbs on sales of advanced chips to China.
Who the claims concern
Huang co-founded Nvidia and built it into the world's leading supplier of AI chips, and has admitted to having an extramarital affair, reportedly with Alice Huang. Alice Huang is reported to be a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed and is thought by US officials to have worked for Chinese intelligence. Nvidia said it would probe the reports that Chinese intelligence targeted its CEO.
Timing ahead of Trump-Xi meeting
The dispute now runs into next week's meeting between Trump and President Xi Jinping at the APEC gathering in Shenzhen, southern China.
