Huang Renxun’s case involves suspicion of espionage Shen Yuzhong: China’s intrusion cannot be just to steal secrets

Huida ceoJen-Hsun Huang The woman was recently accused of working for a Chinese intelligence agency after confessing to an extramarital affair, raising national security concerns. In this regard, Shen Yuzhong, Vice Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said today (10th) that China’s penetration in these democratic countries is omnipresent. These actions may result not only in obtaining commercial secrets, but also in weakening any link in the democratic supply chain. Chinese people and companies should remain alert to the risks of potential intrusions during business exchanges.

The East Asian Institute of the School of International Affairs of National Chengchi University held a lecture on “Cross-Strait Relations and Mainland Policy” at noon on the 10th, with Shen Yuzhong as the speaker. During the pre-meeting question-and-answer session, some students asked about Jen-Hsun Huang’s case and what impact US AI regulatory policy might have on Taiwan’s chip supply chain.

Shen Yuzhong responded that from the perspective of the Mainland Affairs Council, China’s penetration of democratic countries is omnipresent. In the past, office workers including US congressmen and local officials have been found to have CCP backgrounds. Taiwan is also facing a similar situation.

He pointed out that the costs of discrimination and entry into democratic countries by authoritarian countries are very low, but it is relatively difficult for democratic countries to defend themselves because democratic countries and democratic societies are open. In particular, Taiwan welcomes people from all over the world to exchange, settle, and even become citizens. Therefore, it is possible for interested people to use these opportunities to enter Taiwanese society and engage in the acquisition of political information or technological and commercial secrets.

Shen Yuzhong said that China today is different from the past and should be more cautious about economic defense than before. He noted that with recent developments in AI, these penetration campaigns “can not only obtain commercial secrets of a single country, but also undermine any link in the democratic supply chain.”

Taking HUIDA as an example, he said that if someone tries to break into HUIDA, in addition to possibly wanting to obtain specific information, he also does not rule out the possibility of weakening HUIDA’s cooperation with other democratic countries.

Shen Yuzhong emphasized that the government should be “generous when estimating the enemy and strict when estimating the enemy.” Although this is the case that happened in the United States, the Chinese people and domestic enterprises should also be reminded that in the process of commercial exchanges, they should be alert to the risk of possible intrusion.

In addition, Shen Yuzhong also mentioned that the “smokeless war” between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has always been going on. He cited the example of a veteran’s daughter who went to China and upon arrival was immediately taken to a small room. The other party also took out his father’s previous military resume, asked him where he had been and what position he held in recent years, and asked him to check whether the contents were correct, which surprised the person concerned.

Shen Yuzhong said that many people traveling to China may feel that they are not national security personnel and do not know any state secrets. However, because their family members or friends around them may be members of security agencies, they may be at risk. He stressed that just because the proportion of people sent to China for questioning or detention was low, it should not be assumed that there was no such thing.