US lawmakers reportedly aim to block Huawei HarmonyOS global expansion

Lawmakers are now reportedly urging the US and its allies to block Huawei HarmonyOS expansion in the global market. The legislators believe that the Chinese government could use its powerful operating systems instead of chips for spying.

Nikkei Asia reported on a letter by two US lawmakers – John Moolenaar and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi. Both work as ranking members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

The two US lawmakers are now urging the senior members of the Trump administration to work with allied countries and block the global spread of Huawei HarmonyOS.

After the Ascend AI chipsets, the American lawmakers are now seeing the China-made operating system as a major threat to the US national security.

The letter reads:

“Given the serious national security and geopolitical implications associated with foreign adversary operating systems, it is critical that HarmonyOS be thoroughly scrutinized and that we work with our allies and partners to prevent it from becoming embedded in devices across the world.”

Inputs reveal that the letter is sent on Friday to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Brendan Carr, chairman of the FCC.

Huawei uses HarmonyOS not only available for smartphones, tablets, and PCs, but also in vehicles and smart devices. According to lawmakers, China can use this OS for espionage. Perhaps HarmonyOS can bring tools for data collection in future updates.

The letter highlights that Huawei obeys Chinese laws and supports, assists, as well as cooperates with Chinese intelligence efforts. Thus, HarmonyOS-powered products might be used for cyber exploitation and lead to digital authoritarianism by China.

“The US should fully examine HarmonyOS’s architecture and codebase and ensure our allies and partners around the world are aware of Huawei’s and, thus, the Chinese Communist Party’s control over HarmonyOS.”

Lawmakers also said that the US government should encourage its partners to prefer trusted operating systems rather than risky ones. The US is now targeting Chinese OS(s) after imposing stricter rules on Ascend AI chips.

Huawei, on the other hand, is ready to unveil its first-ever HarmonyOS PC next week. It is also expanding its HarmonyOS-based smart driving solutions to global partners like Toyota, BMW, and more. What impact these efforts will have on Huawei and the US would be worth looking at.

US lawmakers reportedly aim to block Huawei HarmonyOS global expansion (Image Credits: Weibo)

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