BEIJING - The background of an alleged Chinese spy at the center of a scandal engulfing U.S. chip giant Nvidia remains a mystery, with reports indicating she formerly worked for Chinese state-run media and major financial institutions.
Major business news outlet Caixin said the Chinese name of Alice Huang, who allegedly had an affair with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, is Huang Le. She is about 42 years old and married.
One of her acquaintances said the woman, who served as a senior executive of Singapore-based data center provider Megaspeed International, an Nvidia customer, is a native of Hunan Province whose "smile left a striking impression." She is easygoing and a good talker, according to the report.
Alice Huang studied for a master's degree in media management at a university in Hong Kong. After graduation, the woman told her friends she had worked as a reporter for Hunan Television and China Central Television, Caixin said, adding no documents have been found to confirm her employment records.
Western media have said Alice Huang worked at HSBC's private banking division and CITIC Securities, a major Chinese brokerage firm. In 2023, she joined Megaspeed, which is suspected to have smuggled advanced Nvidia chips into China.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun sharply reacted to the Chinese spy allegation, saying it is "purely unsubstantiated and directed at smearing China."
Hu Xijin, a former editor-in-chief of The Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with China's ruling Communist Party, who has some 25 million followers online, apparently defended Alice Huang in a social media post.
"If Huang Le is a spy, she ranks among the most successful spies in history. If she is not, then she has been subjected to one of the most intense and complex instances of wrongful accusation ever faced by a woman. I am inclined to believe the latter is the truth," Hu said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang said Wednesday that Alice Huang's visa had been revoked, preventing her from reentering Taiwan.
Relevant authorities are closely monitoring the case and have confirmed that the woman visited Taiwan but is currently overseas, Liu told lawmakers.
"If it had been known that she was a spy, she most likely would not have been permitted entry," Liu said, adding the government would conduct a comprehensive review of its procedures for pre-entry screening, monitoring of visitors and penalties for violations after departure.
