'US uses spying claims as pretext for tech blockade'

China accused the United States on Thursday of using spurious spying claims as a pretext to impose a technological "blockade" on Beijing, following claims that Nvidia boss Jensen Huang was the victim of a Chinese espionage plot. "China's technological progress is driven by independent innovation and open cooperation. The US side should stop fabricating such 'spy' narratives as a pretext for imposing a technological blockade," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular briefing. Huang, who co-founded Nvidia and turned it into the world's leading supplier of the chips that power AI, has admitted to having an extramarital affair. China has dismissed the claims about spying on Huang as "groundless speculation" and "an attempt to smear China". The furore comes ahead of a meeting next week between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump at the Apec summit in Shenzhen. (AFP) Edited by Edmond Fong