Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang enjoyed extraordinary popularity while visiting his homeland, Taiwan. He also became the target of intense criticism from China after he referred to Taiwan as a country.
According to the South China Morning Post on the 8th, Huang told a local reporter during a visit to a night market, “Taiwan is one of the most important countries in the world. It is at the center of the electronics industry. The computer industry is built because of Taiwan.”
Huang, who was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the United States at age 9, recently visited Taiwan to attend the tech conference Computex Taiwan 2024. When Huang visited his hometown and the night markets, there were massive requests for autographs and photos, reciprocating his popularity. When he referred to Taiwan as a country, some Chinese online users responded by calling to boycott Nvidia semiconductors. Some perspectives interpreted his comments as political.
In response to the discussions, Huang clarified that his comments were not intended to reflect an opinion on geopolitical issues. Instead, he emphasized that he aimed to express his gratitude for the support and contributions from all of Nvidia’s technology partners.
Regarding the possibility of a boycott in China, Professor Lin Tsung-nan of the National Taiwan University said to Voice of America, “China needs Nvidia, but Nvidia does not need China. China will not turn hostile towards Huang.”
Chung Hua University adjunct professor Tu Tzu-Chen noted that the Chinese government understands the concept of “the lesser of two evils” well and recognizes that criticizing Huang is not beneficial.
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