Last week, Chairman John Moolenaar and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of the House Select Committee on China addressed concerns regarding HarmonyOS, an operating system developed by Huawei. In a letter to the State Department, Commerce Department, and Federal Communications Commission, they urged coordinated actions with international allies to prevent its use.
HarmonyOS serves as an alternative to leading mobile operating systems like Google's Android and Apple's iOS, and it extends beyond smartphones to include products such as connected vehicles and smart devices. The letter emphasized the need for a thorough examination of HarmonyOS's architecture and codebase. It also highlighted the importance of informing global partners about Huawei's control over the system.
The letter states: “The U.S. Government should fully examine HarmonyOS’s architecture and codebase. We should also ensure our allies and partners around the world are aware of Huawei’s, and thus the Chinese Communist Party’s, control over HarmonyOS, including its updates and patches. Rather than being forced to attempt to remove HarmonyOS from sensitive devices around the world after these risks become widely appreciated, we should use diplomacy and intelligence sharing to encourage the global community to continue to utilize trusted operating systems.”
Concerns were raised about potential backdoors in HarmonyOS that could facilitate espionage. The use of Huawei's app store alongside HarmonyOS was also noted as giving significant control over device users' download decisions.
Chairman Moolenaar remarked: “HarmonyOS is developed and owned by Huawei which is controlled by Chinese Communist Party—plain and simple. It gives Beijing control over the software running on phones, cars, and smart devices around the world. The U.S. must lead a global response: investigate its code, warn our allies, and stop it from being embedded in critical infrastructure and exploited for espionage."
Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi added: “We should not let the wolf of Huawei into our henhouse. Rather than being reactive once HarmonyOS is embedded in devices around the world, we should be proactive and make sure American operating systems continue to be the global leaders.”
Huawei has faced multiple sanctions from the U.S., appearing on lists such as the Commerce Department’s Entity List and others concerning security threats.
This week marked Huawei's launch of its first laptop utilizing HarmonyOS.
