Over the Deepavali weekend, news emerged that the CEO of American tech giant Nvidia, Jensen Huang, had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy.

Beyond the cheating and espionage, there were allegations that the purported spy, Alice Huang - no family relation to Jensen - is linked to a business operating out of Singapore and Malaysia that is suspected of circumventing US sanctions on AI-chip exports to China.

The allegations - which the US is still investigating - could hamper Putrajaya’s efforts to improve trade ties with Washington amid the latter’s ongoing trade war with China.

In August, the US classified Malaysia as a Tier 2 risk for illegal transshipment involving China-linked goods.