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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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...

thewirechina.com

Trump Team Struggles With New Controls As President Seeks China Deal - The Wire China

Now would be a good time to assess whether U.S. export controls are achieving their aims, argues Paul Triolo.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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...

presidency.ucsb.edu

Remarks by the Vice President at the American Dynamism Summit | The American Presidency Project

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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...

sz.gov.cn

City releases action plan to boost HarmonyOS native apps_Latest News-Shenzhen Government Online

Shenzhen Government Online

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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...

consumer.huawei.com

NEWSHarmonyOS eyes cracking Android, One UI and iOS fort

Huawei is planning to bring its home-grown operating system to the Global market. Android (One UI) and iOS are the main mobile operating systems globally, while HarmonyOS is quite popular despite its ...

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

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.

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Samm Sacks @sammsacks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

1/ Sharing my new piece in @bloomberg.com “Cutting Off Chinese Companies Risks a US Policy Own Goal” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.com

Cutting Off Chinese Companies Risks a US Policy Own Goal

The US banned Huawei. Now it’s a bigger threat than ever.

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