Businesswoman Alice Huang, who is embroiled in a controversy over an alleged extramarital affair with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, has visited Taiwan several times. Taiwanese officials have confirmed that her entry permit has been revoked and she can no longer enter Taiwan.
An academic interviewed said that if the controversy weakens Nvidia’s lobbying for the US to ease export controls on China, it could bolster Taiwan’s position in supply chains independent of China in the long term. In the short term, however, leadership changes at Nvidia could accelerate efforts to diversify its supply chain, potentially affecting Taiwan.
The New York Times reported that Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, whom US intelligence officials suspect of being a Chinese spy, had known each other since at least late 2023. The two had met in Singapore, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, San Jose and Taiwan.
Taiwanese media photographed the pair together at a bar gathering in Taipei in June 2024 and at a meal at Taipei’s Sanliu Shifu restaurant in May 2025. Citing people familiar with the matter, The New York Times said Taiwan began monitoring Alice Huang’s visits in 2024 at the suggestion of the US. She had entered Taiwan several times on a Hong Kong passport.
On Wednesday (November 11), lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan raised questions regarding how Alice Huang managed to enter the country, casting doubt on whether there were gaps in the vetting process.
Taiwan People’s Party legislator Hsu Chung-hsin said at least 10 photographs circulating online showed Jensen Huang and Alice Huang together in Taiwan, in different attire each time. “Put simply, it was spring, summer, autumn and winter – all year round,” he said. He argued that her ability to enter and leave so freely exposed gaps in Taiwan’s national security.
Democratic Progressive Party legislator Huang Jie questioned why Alice Huang, who was not a mainland Chinese national with permanent residency in a third country, had been able to “come to Taiwan openly” on a Hong Kong passport through arrangements such as a business visa.
Responding to questions, Taiwan’s Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang said Alice Huang had indeed entered Taiwan previously but was currently outside its borders. The Ministry of the Interior would review pre-entry vetting, checks during visits and subsequent enforcement measures. She also stressed that Alice Huang’s entry permit had been revoked and that she “cannot come to Taiwan again”.
At a regular press briefing on the same day, Zhang Han, spokesperson for mainland China’s State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, did not directly answer a question about whether the incident had deepened distrust between the technology industries on either side of the Taiwan Strait. She said only that cross-strait industrial exchanges and cooperation were consistent with market principles and business interests, and that keeping industrial and supply chains in sectors such as semiconductors stable and resilient was a practical necessity.
Chang Chih-cheng, chief executive of the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology, a think tank established by Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council, addressed the issue on Wednesday in response to a question from Lianhe Zaobao at a lecture organised by National Chengchi University’s Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies. He said Jensen Huang had long lobbied Washington against restrictions on advanced chip exports to China. If the incident diminished his influence, calls for tighter controls could gain the upper hand.
“Washington’s biggest China dove has been compromised,” Chang said.
He noted that Taiwan had long been a manufacturing and supply partner for US technological innovation. Global strategic competition had highlighted the value of supply chains independent of China, making the incident “a positive for Taiwan in the long term”. However, if Nvidia’s leadership or business approach changed and it chose to diversify the geographical spread of its supply chain to reduce risk, Taiwan could also be affected.
Chang added that Taiwan supplies about 90% of the world’s artificial intelligence servers. Taiwanese companies could face higher compliance costs if chip tracking and controls on computing capacity outside the US were tightened.
There remains bipartisan consensus in the US Congress on technology controls targeting China. Chang cautioned that enforcing US controls relied on extraterritorial jurisdiction and cooperation from allies. Areas such as talent flows and process know-how were difficult to regulate comprehensively through export controls alone, and Taiwan still needed to strike a balance between security requirements and maintaining its industrial edge.
He said, “If a new CEO takes over, might there be a different business approach, with a desire for suppliers to no longer be so heavily concentrated in Taiwan? I think that would also be a reasonable choice for a Silicon Valley company.”
