Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said China's technological progress is driven by independent innovation and open cooperation. (EPA Images pic)BEIJING: Beijing accused the United States on Thursday of using spurious spying claims as a pretext to impose a technological "blockade" on China, 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 spokesman 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, reportedly with Alice Huang.