Moolenaar, Krishnamoorthi Urge Action to Block CCP-Controlled Operating System HarmonyOS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Chairman John Moolenaar and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of the House Select Committee on China sent a letter urging the State Department, Commerce Department, and Federal Communications Commission to take action against HarmonyOS – the operating system developed by Huawei. Among the actions they recommend is coordination with our allies and partners around the world to prevent its use.

HarmonyOS is an operating system developed by Huawei as an alternative to the current leading mobile operating systems developed by Google (Android) and Apple (iOS), as well as desktop operating systems such as those developed by Microsoft (Windows). HarmonyOS is also intended for use in products other than smartphones, tablets, and computers, including connected vehicles and smart devices.

In the letter, the Chairman and Ranking Member write: “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.”

HarmonyOS could contain backdoors and vulnerabilities designed to facilitate espionage. Moreover, in the context of mobile devices, the use of HarmonyOS will correspond with the use of the Huawei app store – giving the CCP veto power over a device user’s download decisions and the ability to access sensitive code.

Regarding the letter, Chairman Moolenaar said, “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 said: “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 been repeatedly sanctioned by the U.S. Government, and is included on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, the FCC’s Covered List, and the U.S. Department of Defense’s list of Chinese Military Companies.

This week, Huawei launched its first laptop that uses the HarmonyOS system.

Can you read the full letter here.

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