17/ Fear of the rise of China is one of the few things that Democrats and Republicans agree on. But the case of HarmonyOS suggests sweeping trade restrictions are fueling — not foiling — advances in China’s domestic technology in ways that could shift the global market. END

16/ The lessons here go beyond a single Chinese company. The US’s new export controls on Nvidia’s H20 chips are likely to accelerate China's own AI chip capabilities. Huawei is already stepping in to fill the vacuum.

15/ But the Huawei example ought to be a clear indication of the limits of policies that restrict China, and how those policies can spur Chinese firms to innovate and grow.

www.thewirechina.com/2025/03/23/t...

x.com/ryanl_hass/s...

14/ American officials view the rise of Chinese tech as an existential threat to US national security. Curbing Chinese firms, they reason, will ensure that Beijing does not gain strategic advantages in technology. This is viewed as distinct from countering espionage.

13/ Third, it introduces a new set of data security risks as Huawei laptops, wearables, cars, home appliances and phones — all integrated — would run on top of networks where billions of dollars had been spent to remove Huawei equipment under Rip & Replace.

12/ Second, users outside of China could be subject to Chinese government restrictions on apps and content, extending the reach of the Great Firewall.

cpj.org/2021/11/how-...

11/ This undermines Biden and Trump administration goals for the US to dominate AI.

www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/re...

bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-roo...

10/ First, the spread of Harmony outside China would be a boon for China’s position in AI. Huawei’s mobile assistant app, Xiaoyi, uses DeepSeek; its personal computers also come loaded with DeepSeek large language model applications.

9/ What’s at stake if HarmonyOS succeeds globally to rival Android, iOS, and Windows?

8/ To entice more developers, Huawei is offering tools to convert Android apps to be compatible with HarmonyOS plus financial incentives. It’s getting help from the Shenzhen government for a Smart City hub for government services, finance, healthcare.

www.sz.gov.cn/en_szgov/new...

7/ Harmony has a long way to go to succeed outside of China. Apps wont work with HarmonyOS unless they are specifically built for it. So users in China living by Weixin and Baidu maps will be fine, but not global users who rely on WhatApp, for example.

6/ HarmonyOS Next doesn’t just run on smartphones but is a single platform that seamlessly integrates connected cars, home appliances, wearables, etc. It weaves together an entire ecosystem of devices across users lives.

5/ Huawei Chairman Eric Xu said HW wants HarmonyOS to become “a third mobile operating system for the world” taking on Android, iOS, Windows. The plan is to build up its app ecosystem in China then “push it out” to other countries.

consumer.huawei.com/za/community...

4/ HarmonyOS rose from the ashes after Huawei lost access to Android and other US tech in 2019. Huawei had to make an OS used for IoT into a smartphone OS. Initially HarmonyOS resembled Android w/o Google, then came HarmonyOS Next, “Pure Blood” built entirely in-house.

3/ HarmonyOS, Huawei’s homegrown operating system, has received less attention than the battle for supremacy in semiconductors and AI. But the race for OS dominance has big implications for data security, AI, free internet, and more given the proliferation of connected devices.

2/ TL; DR: US efforts to kneecap China can undermine both American competitiveness and the very national security that measures like the Huawei ban aim to protect.