China's spy tactics rely on long-term romantic entanglements

China's intelligence services have used romantic relationships for decades to compromise or extract information from prominent figures, despite a 1960 pledge by a top official that Beijing would never employ seduction tactics. U.S. officials allege China recruited a businesswoman to collect intelligence on Jensen Huang, who resigned Thursday as CEO of Nvidia. The woman, Alice Huang, was a top executive at a Singapore company operating data centers using Nvidia chips. Jensen Huang acknowledged an affair with her, while President Trump said Huang told him he was unaware she was a spy. China rejected the allegations as smears, and U.S. officials have not provided evidence. China's approach is notable for its long-term investment in relationships, sometimes lasting years or marriages, according to former U.S. intelligence officers. Examples include a Peking Opera singer's two-decade relationship that drew a French diplomat into spying, and a former U.S. congressman's physical relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.