The Jensen Huang Nvidia affair recalls China’s ‘beauty stratagem’ that dates back 2,000 years

Résumé détaillé

“Meiren ji” is one of “Thirty-Six Stratagems" in a Chinese military text believed to have derived from the Warring States period — 475–221 BCE.

Extramarital activities have led to the resignation of one of America’s most influential tech bosses, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The saga has also raised the specter of an age-old spying tactic: the “honey trap.”

Huang stepped down following media reports of an extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, a Singapore-based executive suspected of having ties to Chinese intelligence agencies. She previously worked for Megaspeed, a cloud computing company under U.S. scrutiny for allegedly helping China obtain restricted AI chips.

Jensen Huang acknowledged an affair. And amid reports of a second with a company executive who reports to him, he tendered his resignation to the Nvidia board on Nov. 12, 2026.

The sensitivity of Huang’s work – AI is increasingly seen as central to national security – has turned a company matter into an international issue. China’s Foreign Ministry has denied the espionage allegations and accused the U.S. of “fabricating so-called spy narratives and ⁠⁠⁠⁠using them as a pretext for imposing ⁠⁠⁠⁠a technological blockade.” Nvidia says it has no reason to believe company secrets have been leaked.

Yet part of what makes the accusations so believable is history is dotted with examples of men being distracted, compromised or spied on by attractive men and women deployed for that purpose.

Indeed, in China it recalls an ancient political tactic known as “meiren ji” or the “beauty stratagem.”

As a scholar specializing in U.S.-China relations, I believe that regardless of the particulars of the Huang case, the political logic behind the beauty stratagem – using personal relationships to obtain information, influence decisions and weaken opponents – remains relevant today. As such, it would be no surprise if the tactic was being used amid the growing U.S.-China competition over AI and advanced semiconductors.

“Meiren ji” is one of “Thirty-Six Stratagems,” a Chinese military text of uncertain origin but generally believed to have derived from oral and written…

The…

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