Intel CEO dogged by decades of China chip bets, board work

In recent years, as U.S.-China tensions escalated, Washington increasingly restricted Beijing’s access to advanced nology and placed tighter limits on the ability of U.S. companies to do there

And Tan’s efforts to distance himself from Chinese investments accelerated with his appointment at Intel Corp. in March, when he agreed to divest his holdings there, according to a person familiar with the arrangement

That hasn’t stopped U.S. lawmakers—and, now, Donald Trump—from holding Tan’s past Chinese affiliations against him

The U.S. president called the executive “highly conflicted” in a social media post and urged him to resign

Intel has said Tan and the board are “deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests.” Late on Thursday, Tan said he’s got the full backing of the company’s board, responding for the first time to Trump. “We are engaging with the Administration to address the matters that have been raised and ensure they have the facts,” he said in a letter to staff posted on Intel’s website

Here’s what we know Tan’s dealings in China

Tan, a Mandarin speaker born in Malaysia, helped the company make investments all over East Asia, including China

He pushed some of Walden’s funds into the then-unfashionable area of chip

Most venture capitalists had moved away from the industry, figuring that it was impossible to challenge giants such as Intel with startup money

But Tan played those odds

Today, the executive is still chairman of Walden International

And he’s the founding managing partner at Walden Catalyst Ventures, which focuses on investments in the U.S., Europe and Israel

He also serves in that role at another venture fund, Celesta Global Capital

Tan and Walden have faced scrutiny for China-related investments before

The Chinese company, whose customers at one time included Qualcomm Inc., is attempting to break into the outsourced chip duction dominated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co

Commerce Department put SMIC on the so-called entity list, citing ties with the Chinese military

That means es need licenses to supply the Chinese company with nology

The move effectively cut it off from crucial U.S. vendors

Today, it’s a key partner to major Chinese sector players including Huawei nologies Co

The executive, who had previously served on the board, went on to take the permanent CEO job the next year

In late July of this year, the Department of Justice announced a plea deal that cost Cadence more than $100 million in fines

Employees at Cadence’s China unit allegedly hid the name of a customer—the National University of Defense nology—from internal compliance in order to keep supplying it

The Chinese university was one of a group of supercomputer operators there that had conducted simulations of nu explosions, the DOJ said

Cadence got a 20% reduction of the statutory maximum fine because of its partial cooperation with the investigation, according to the DOJ’s statement, which didn’t mention Tan

Still, his connection to the company was cited this week by U.S

Senator Tom Cotton, who wrote to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary questioning whether what happened at Cadence under Tan’s tenure makes him fit for his current job

Current Tan spent time on the boards of other Chinese companies, such as Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc

But he doesn’t, according to Bloomberg data, currently serve on a board of any company based in that country

Though Walden International has invested in more than 100 Chinese companies over the years, that involvement has been scaled back, according to PitchBook

Walden International, Walden Catalyst Ventures and Celesta now just have stakes in a handful of companies based in China, including Hong Kong, the site shows.