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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, the central figures in an alleged espionage scandal that has shaken the world, are pictured together in an affectionate moment. China's response to the controversy can be summed up in one word: conspiracy theory. /Baidu

China appears to be dismissing reports of an extramarital affair between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (Huang Renxun) and Alice Huang (Huang Le), who is suspected of having been recruited by Chinese intelligence agencies, as an absurd and malicious conspiracy theory. At the same time, the Chinese public and media have openly adopted a confrontational stance, arguing that China should actively counter what they see as a deliberate campaign by the West, led by the United States.

The Chinese government, above all, has taken this position. This was evident in the unusually forceful stance adopted by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun during regular press briefings on Nov. 9 and 10. When domestic and foreign journalists asked about China's position on the case, Guo strongly rejected the allegations, saying, "The so-called Chinese spy allegation is groundless. It is nothing but a smear against China." He vigorously advanced the view that the allegations were part of a conspiracy against China. 

Chinese state-run media have also directly attacked the West, accusing it of attempting to demonize China by spreading conspiracy theories. They have been particularly critical of the United States, with prominent media outlets echoing the government's position and accusing Washington of deliberately inflating the controversy by turning it into a national security issue. A notable example is the Global Times, the English-language sister publication of the Communist Party's official newspaper, People's Daily. Through reports arguing that U.S. media coverage relies on anonymous government sources and materials that the news organizations themselves cannot verify, the Global Times has repeatedly criticized the U.S. government and media.

In particular, a commentary published on Nov. 10 under the headline "Jensen Huang probe: Counterintelligence or political witch hunt?" criticized the United States for turning what it characterized as a simple extramarital affair involving Huang into a national security issue. It also argued that "Suspicion alone cannot build next-generation graphics processing units (GPUs). Excessive politicization that portrays business activities as security threats cannot win the next artificial intelligence (AI) race." The commentary claimed that the U.S. government and media were deliberately spreading conspiracy theories to contain China, a formidable competitor. 

Other major newspapers and broadcasters across China have adopted a largely similar tone to the Global Times. For example, Hunan Daily asserted that "portraying a Chinese woman as a spy in the private life of a U.S. technology giant has now become the easiest storyline to use," categorically claiming that the entire affair was fabricated.

Social media users have been even more outspoken in arguing that China is being unfairly targeted by conspiracy theories. A post on Weibo, a platform whose influence in China surpasses that of Naver or KakaoTalk in South Korea, claiming that U.S. media were portraying Jensen Huang's alleged affair partner as a Chinese spy, topped the platform's trending searches for some time. Beijing netizen Qin Yonggang expressed a similar view, saying, "The United States is killing two birds with one stone through this incident. It is demonizing China while trying to destroy our AI and semiconductor industries."

While both Chinese authorities and the public have expressed strong distrust of the United States, they have generally acknowledged basic biographical details about Alice Huang, one of the people at the center of the alleged affair. This is evident from the widespread circulation on social media of claims that Huang is a 49-year-old married woman from Hunan Province who previously worked as a television journalist.

Nevertheless, given China's forceful and heated response, the full truth behind the case is unlikely to come to light easily. As with other alleged honey-trap espionage cases involving Chinese women, the controversy may ultimately fade away without a clear resolution.

                                                                                                            Hong Soon-do