Inside China’s Female Spy Network: From University Students to Reporters and Businesswomen

On October 29, an affair and spy controversy thrust NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang and Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang into the spotlight. At first, it seemed like gossip about a technology executive's private life. But as more information emerged, it developed into suspicions of espionage. On November 9, a New York Times report raised the stakes. It said an intelligence memo circulated among senior Trump administration officials this spring. The memo said Alice Huang had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security to get close to Jensen Huang and gather intelligence about him. The memo also said Beijing wanted more than personal information. It hoped to use her to influence Nvidia and get the American chip giant to sell its most advanced AI chips to China. The controversy has now reached Congress. Republican leaders of three major House committees have asked Jensen Huang to attend a closed-door meeting in late November. They want him to give lawmakers a full account of his private dealings with Alice Huang. After the news broke, the Global Times, a CCP mouthpiece, quickly responded. It described the Jensen Huang controversy as America's own internal affair. It also accused the New York Times of deliberately playing up the Chinese spy angle to attract attention. The article also suggested that some people wanted to exploit the controversy to disrupt US-China relations. One person online responded sarcastically, so now they're calling it America's internal affair again. Another wrote, that's quite a reaction, they sound desperate. This hit a nerve, and now they're trying to distance themselves. The report must be true. Meanwhile, another post took off on X. It was an image titled Western celebrities and their Chinese or ethnically Chinese partners, And it listed eight couples. First on the list were News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch and his Chinese former wife, Wendy Deng. It also included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, who's of Vietnamese-Chinese heritage, along with Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his former wife Nicole Shanahan. Alongside those Silicon Valley technology leaders, the list included prominent figures from Hollywood and British politics. Actor Robert De Niro is dating Tiffany Chen, a martial arts instructor of Chinese heritage. Former British Foreign Secretary and Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt is married to Lucia Guo. Who comes from Xi'an, China, former International Automobile Federation president and former Ferrari CEO John Todd is married to Michelle Yao, the well-known Malaysian actress of Chinese heritage. Brian Armstrong, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, married Angela Meng, a woman of Chinese heritage, in 2024. The final couple was former CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves and his wife, Chinese-American television host Julie Chen. Some people online said the list helped them see a pattern and joked, wow, so America's AI bosses have all been won over by Chinese women. Chinese women really are charming. Now let's see which Chinese woman wins over Musk. One person analyzed the pattern in terms of culture and relationships, arguing that it was hardly surprising. Silicon Valley's technology and elite may have an advantage in intelligence and wealth, but they aren't necessarily skilled at relationships. Once they achieved success, the person argued, They're easily won over by Asian women who are warm, considerate, and good at communicating. Another person identified a different pattern. Wendy Deng, Alice Huang, and Fu Xiaotian, the mistress of former Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang, all have prominent television careers. The person argued that people with television backgrounds are especially skilled at making others feel valued. This helps explain why so many seasoned political and business leaders fell for them, sometimes with damaging consequences. Beyond the eight couples on that list, another pair unexpectedly drew attention online. They were Oracle co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison and his younger wife of Chinese heritage, Jolene Zhu. Paired with the other marriages, theirs has remained more mysterious. In 2025, Ellison's wealth briefly surpassed Musk's, making him the world's richest person. Beyond his business achievements, the technology leader is also known as Silicon Valley's playboy. He'd been through five publicly known marriages. Then in November 2024, A thank-you statement from the sports world revealed Ellison's little-known sixth marriage. The University of Michigan football team had recruited Bryce Underwood, the nation's top-ranked high school quarterback. Champion Circle, the organization raising sponsorship funds, issued an enthusiastic statement. It specifically thanked Larry Ellison and his wife, Jolene, for providing money and support for the major signing. The announcement immediately stirred public interest. Ellison had married again, and little was known about the wife. A report in the Wall Street Journal revealed part of her background. Her name was Jolene Zhu, also known as Karen Zhu. She was born around 1991, 47 years after Ellison. That makes her about 8 years younger than his eldest son David. According to media reports, she attended a school affiliated with Northeast Yuhai and Shen Yun before studying in the United States. She earned a two-year liberal arts degree from Bard College at at Simon's Rock in Massachusetts in 2009. She then attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a Bachelor's of Arts in International Studies in 2012. What drew media interest wasn't just the age gap, it was how little was known about her. There were only limited education records and footage of a few public appearances with Ellison. Britain's Daily Mail investigated Zhu. Its reporters found that she lived in an ordinary student apartment in Ann Arbor while attending the University of Michigan. It rented for just $880 a month. Judging by her living conditions at the time, she appeared much like other Chinese international students. She was far from the image of a wealthy heiress chauffeured in luxury cars with bodyguards. Her college years were also hard to trace. She may have shared an apartment with a Chinese doctoral student in nuclear engineering. Reporters couldn't establish their relationship, and some former classmates barely remembered her. Her next move raised further questions. In 2013, just one year after graduating, Xu moved to Redwood Shores, California, and rented an apartment costing at least $2,600 a month. The location stood out. It was part of Silicon Valley's technology community and was also home to Oracle's headquarters at the time. Why would a recent graduate with little documented work experience move near Oracle's headquarters? Has she found a job there, or does she have other financial support? Xu left few public records over the following years, until she reappeared in public view in March 2017. During a tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, cameras showed Larry Ellison's VIP box. The young woman seated beside the billionaire was Xu. It's among the earlier publicly available images showing them together. The main questions were when they met and how And how their relationship began. Media reports offered several versions. Some said they met in Japan. Others pointed to the University of Michigan. An acquaintance even suggested they may have connected online. But none of these accounts is backed by sufficient public evidence. The circumstances of their first meeting remain a mystery. One well-known fact is Ellison's interest in Japanese culture. He's long admired Japanese architecture, art, and traditions. Some reports have also suggested that Zhu's early life may have had some connection to Japan. Another unanswered question is why Zhu keeps such a low profile and whether she's concealing anything. Jeremy Hunt's wife, Lucia Gould, also drew attention. Hunt is a prominent figure in British politics. Born into a military officer's family and educated at Oxford, he served as culture secretary, health secretary, foreign secretary, and finance minister. In 2019, he reached the final round of the Conservative Party leadership contest but lost to Boris Johnson, missing his chance to become prime minister. His wife, Lucia Guo, comes from Xi'an, China. They met at an event for the education sector in Britain in 2008. At the time, she was recruiting Chinese students for the University of Warwick. They married in Xi'an the following year. What began as an international marriage drew more attention as Hunt's political standing rose. His wife's work in television also came under scrutiny. As early as 2012, Hunt helped promote a high-level exchange program between Britain and China, Focus on people and culture. In 2015 and 2016, he co-chaired related events with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong. Liu had previously served for many years as head of the Communist Party's United Front Work Department. As Britain and China expanded cooperation in culture and media, Britain's Sky Television Network later broadcast a program called China Hour. It focused on Chinese culture, tourism, and everyday life. Hunt's wife Lucia Gould was among its presenters. The program also worked with media outlets and tourism promoters linked to the Chinese government, including China International Television Corporation. In December 2021, Britain's Daily Mail questioned the program's coverage. It said episodes promoting China's pandemic response and tourism in Xinjiang focus almost entirely on positive aspects. They made little mention of the human rights and writes controversies behind them. This raised suspicions. was a program influenced by the CCP's propaganda apparatus, or had it become a vehicle for promoting Beijing's message. When Hunt ran again for the Conservative Party leadership in July 2022, British media revisited the issue. Some overseas Chinese-language outlets also published further accounts. They said Guo's parents had ties to China's defense industry. They also said she may have attended the Luoyang Foreign Languages Institute. The school has historical ties to Chinese military intelligence. People online speculated that her background might be connected to Chinese infiltration abroad. As the controversies continued, Hunt was eliminated early in the 2022 conservative party leadership race. Whether Gould's cooperation with institutions tied to the Chinese government involved deeper political ties remains unanswered. Wendy Deng is another prominent Chinese woman who's moved through Western political and business circles. Real name, Deng Wenge, Wendy Deng was born in Jinan, Shandong in 1968. As a young woman, she studied medicine in Guangzhou, where she met an American couple, Jake and Joyce Cherry. The couple helped her learn English and financed her move to the United States to study in 1988. They even welcomed her into their home. That generosity eventually led to a marriage Marriage Controversy According to the Wall Street Journal and other media, Deng and Jake Cherry developed an intimate relationship leading to his divorce from Joyce. Deng married Jake in 1990, but the marriage ended after less than three years. Deng continued her education at California State University, Northridge, and then Yale School of Management, earning an MBA in 1996. After graduating, she joined Star TV, part of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's business empire. That decision transformed her life. Murdoch's media empire includes such well-known brands as the New York Post, Britain's Times, and Fox News. Beyond his media holdings, he has substantial influence in British and American political and business circles. Deng met Murdoch through work in 1998, and they soon fell in love. In 1999, Murdoch ended his 31-year marriage to his second wife. Just 17 days later, he married Deng aboard a private yacht in New York. He was 68, she was 30. A woman from an ordinary Chinese family had become the wife of a global media tycoon and entered the ranks of the Western super-rich. After marrying, Deng took part in some of Murdoch's business activities in China. At the same time, she gradually built her own connections in investment, culture, politics, and business. But in 2013, Murdoch and Deng divorced. The most sensational rumors surrounding their split involve former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In 2014, Vanity Fair revealed that Murdoch had suspected Deng and Blair were too close. People familiar with the matter also said Blair had visited Murdoch's private home when Murdoch was away. Media outlets also published private notes said to have been written by Deng, expressing admiration and affection for Blair. Blair wasn't only a former British prime minister, he was also a longtime friend of Murdoch's and godfather to Murdoch and Deng's eldest daughter. The relationship drama involving a former prime minister, a media tycoon, and his Chinese wife quickly became a topic for British and American gossip outlets. After divorcing Murdoch, Deng continued to move in Western high society And remained active among American political and business elite. This July, People Online spotted Deng at another gathering, the annual Sun Valley Conference in the United States. It's a private gathering of some of the world's wealthiest people and leading political and business figures. Attendance is by invitation, and its main sessions take place entirely behind closed doors. Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong also attended this year's conference, and Wendy Deng was photographed beside him. One person joked online, That's Wendy for you. She has influence everywhere. Did ability and opportunity alone bring Wendy Deng, Lucia Guo, and Jolene Zhu into elite Western circles? With the Alice Huang controversy, a more sensitive question has emerged. Is the CCP using personal relationships to reach the centers of Western power? On November 6, Canada CTV News reported on a new study by the Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders. It says the CCP is using Chinese associations and community groups worldwide to extend its domestic surveillance and social control overseas. The report is titled, A Formula for Repression, China's Global Grid for Community Control. It said researchers identified 1,247 overseas contact points across 91 countries. All of them were officially designated by Chinese authorities. Some of the organizations are suspected of helping the CCP conduct policing and surveillance abroad. For comparison, Safeguard Defenders first exposed secret overseas police stations in 2022. At the time, it identified about 100 sites in more than 50 countries. A new report identifies more than 12 times as many related contact points. According to the report, many contact points operate through ordinary Chinese hometown associations, cultural exchange groups, or community organizations promoting trade and tourism between China and other countries. On the surface, the organized gatherings connect people from the same hometown and hold cultural activities. But investigators found that some associations have links to Chinese police agencies and the United Front system. They're suspected of helping Beijing monitor and pressure Chinese people abroad. Laura Harth, China Affairs Director at Safeguard Defenders, said the network's purpose is to track what Chinese people abroad are doing and saying and try to control them. The system is also continually changing how it operates, raising further concerns. Harth said that even before 2022, some police outposts abroad openly display the emblems of Chinese police agencies. But then the secret police station scandal drew international attention. The authorities became more cautious and less willing to publicly identify the associations working with them. The report identifies another key player behind this network, the CCP's United Front system. CCP leader Xi Jinping has described the United Front as one of the party's important tools for success. Safeguard Defender said that under Xi, the system has become a key tool for Beijing. It helps Beijing expand its influence abroad and tighten control over overseas Chinese communities. Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig was detained in China for more than 1,000 days. He warned that the system's effects go far beyond surveillance. It may leave Chinese people abroad afraid to speak freely or participate in politics And even fearful of outside pressure when they vote. Canadian Uyghur activist Ruki Turdish says some Uyghurs face political pressure after receiving permission to return to China to visit relatives. After returning to Canada, they were too afraid to continue attending community activities. Her greatest concern is that the fear could spread through the entire community Until people don't know who around them they can trust.