United States President Donald Trump travels to the Chinese city of Shenzhen next week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, where he is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
asserted
he → travel → Jinping
The trip comes as Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s outgoing chief executive and one of Trump’s closest allies in Silicon Valley, faces mounting scrutiny over his relationship with Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive whom US officials suspect of working for Chinese intelligence.
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officials → come → intelligence
China has denied the allegations.
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China → deny → allegations
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On Thursday, Nvidia announced that Huang would step down as chief executive.
Huang accompanied Trump on his May visit to Beijing.
uncertain
Huang → meet → Beijing
His presence mattered for Nvidia, which has struggled to secure approval to sell its H200 AI chips in China.
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which → matter → China
So could Trump’s closeness to Huang push his administration towards a tougher line on China?
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closeness → push → China
Here’s what you need to know:
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you → ’ → what
How did Huang shape the US-China chip thaw?
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Huang → shape → thaw
As founder and CEO of Nvidia, Huang pushed Washington to ease restrictions on the sale of advanced chips to China, arguing that wider use of US technology would help Washington hold onto its lead in AI development.
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Washington → push → development
In December 2025, Trump did approve sales of the H200, Nvidia’s second-most powerful chip, to China, with 25 percent of proceeds to be paid to the US government.
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Trump → approve → government
He did so despite opposition from China hawks in both parties.
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He → do → parties
Huang was a surprise late addition to Trump’s delegation to Beijing in May, in hopes of unlocking stalled H200 sales.
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Huang → unlock → sales
Despite Trump’s decision to allow the sales, shipments were low because of slow import approvals from the Chinese government in a bid to support domestic chipmakers.
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shipments → allow → chipmakers
No breakthrough was announced.
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breakthrough → announce → ?
Trump has stood by Huang throughout his recent personal scandal, calling him an “honourable guy”.
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Trump → stand → him
Will the Nvidia scandal prompt Trump to take a tougher stance with China?
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scandal → prompt → China
Huang’s removal from Nvidia’s board and the scandal leading up to that are unlikely to significantly affect relations between Washington and Beijing, which Steve Okun, a Singapore-based geopolitical analyst, told Al Jazeera is “a stalemate at best”.
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Okun → lead → Jazeera
Instead, if the US continues to impose restrictions on AI product sales to China, AI diversion and diffusion – how products are traded around the world both formally and informally – would be much more likely to cause tension between the two nations.
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products → continue → nations
Gabriel Wildau, managing director at the advisory firm Teneo, told Al Jazeera earlier this week that Trump “shows no sign that he intends to disrupt the current US-China rapprochement”.
But he warned that the president “may face new pressure from Congress and hawkish voices inside his administration”.
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president → tell → administration
Carsten Holz, an expert on the Chinese economy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said Trump “would not seem to have a coherent China policy and therefore his position in the upcoming talks in Shenzhen is hard to predict”.
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position → say → Shenzhen
Huang’s personal affairs “will be of little relevance” to China-US relations, he told Al Jazeera.
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he → tell → Jazeera
Where is the pressure to be tougher with China coming from?
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pressure → come → China
Mostly from Congress, where control of both houses will pass to the Democrats in January.
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control → pass → January
Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at the technology research group Omdia, said a tough US line on AI and China was not Trump’s alone, calling it “one of the rare political consensuses domestically across the aisle”.
Trump, he said, “will do whatever he can to protect his contribution and legacy on this matter”.
On Wednesday, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Stephen Miller to preserve all records on Nvidia’s chip exports to China.
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Warren → say → China
“This incident raises significant concerns about the federal government’s ability to effectively enforce our export controls and protect our national security,” the senators wrote.
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senators → raise → security
The news website Axios reported that Lutnick had held up a planned crackdown on firms suspected of funnelling Nvidia chips to China.
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Lutnick → report → China
Meanwhile, procurement notices seen by the AFP news agency show that a Chinese university linked to the country’s defence establishment bought Nvidia H200 chips through a third party in September and October.
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university → see → September
How has China responded?
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China → respond → ?
Beijing has rejected the spy claims and accused Washington of using them as cover to impose stronger restrictions and semiconductor export controls on China.
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Beijing → reject → China
“The US side should stop fabricating such ‘spy’ narratives as a pretext for imposing a technological blockade,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday.
But Mao also said China is willing to work with the US to implement the consensus reached by the two leaders.
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China → stop → leaders
Omdia’s Su said China “has no interest in not engaging with Trump, given substantial interest in Nvidia graphics processing units”.
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China → say → units
Chinese chipmakers may also gain from better access to US technology.
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chipmakers → gain → technology
Shares in Moore Threads, MetaX and Cambricon, China’s leading makers of graphics processors, jumped nearly 10 percent on Thursday.
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Shares → lead → Thursday
What happens after Shenzhen?
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What → happen → Shenzhen
Holz, the Chinese economy expert, noted that the use of advanced Nvidia chips in Singapore data centres to serve customers in mainland China was “not new information”.
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use → note → China
Still, Okun expects the pressure to build next year.
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pressure → expect → ?
He said Congress could pass the Remote Access Security Act, aimed at stopping Chinese firms from reaching advanced chips through the cloud.
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Congress → say → cloud
The Department of Commerce, he added, could put export controls on Megaspeed or require licences for advanced chips sent to countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
uncertain
he → add → Singapore
If that happens, it will strain the US-China relationship in 2027, he said, adding “but that’s not going to happen next week”.
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that → happen → 2027
The Aporia
