Source : Perth Now news
Angus Taylor says Australia should be “deeply concerned” about the threat of espionage and foreign interference after Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang resigned following an extramarital affair with a suspected Chinese spy.
The 63-year-old quit his role as head of the global tech giant after he confessed to having an affair with Alice Huang, of no relation, who US officials allege is working for Chinese intelligence. Authorities in Beijing have denied such allegations.
Reports also emerged on Friday that Mr Huang allegedly had two additional affairs with company employees, according to Reuters.
The Opposition Leader said on Friday Australia should be alert given the national security risks at play.
“I think the biggest fallout here is espionage, is foreign interference, and we should be deeply concerned about that. That is something we have to be on guard for in this country,” Mr Taylor told News24.
“The activity of the Chinese Communist Party was laid bare with what we saw there. I’m not going to lecture about their personal morality, but what is clear here is that the actions of a foreign state were at play and that kind of foreign espionage is something that we do not want in this country.”
But Mr Taylor ruled out plans to call for a ban on investment, given Nvidia invests heavily in the Australian market.
“We need (such investment) if we’re going to have a productive, competitive economy,” he said.
“I’m not going to get into banning companies from investment. They’re going to have to sort out their own issues.”
The comments come as it was revealed Australian data centre chiefs met with Mr Huang and Ms Huang in Taiwan last year. NextDC confirmed this week its chief executive Craig Scroggie met with the pair after footage was unearthed of Mr Scroggie chatting to Ms Huang while Mr Huang spoke to media and fans nearby.
CDC’s Greg Boorer and Jack Dan also appeared in a photo with the pair. Mr Boorer told the Australian Financial Review they “were there as (Nvidia) partners” and met “Alice but never really talked and haven’t seen her since”.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday he was confident the nation could safeguard sensitive information, but “we are living in a world where there is more espionage than there has been for a long time”.
“The processes by which people obtain security clearances to handle our nation’s secrets, but also to engage in our key technologies, is very robust and we’re confident about that,” he told ABC Radio.
Mr Marles said the surge in espionage was “particularly around emerging technologies”, such as data centres.
“And we are very alive to this, and we maintain a security system which is robust and is regarded as good as any in the world, and we put a lot of effort into this,” Mr Marles said.
Mr Huang, a US citizen, this week admitted to having an affair with Ms Huang, a former executive with Singaporean company Megaspeed who has long been the interest of counterintelligence.
US media reported that investigators believed she was acting as an agent for China’s Ministry of State Security, and US President Donald Trump said the Federal Bureau of Investigation “is looking into it”.
The Chinese government has rejected the claims.
“The so-called Chinese spy allegation is unsubstantiated,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.
“It is nothing but smears against China.”
