On April 15, 2025, a revelation from the Harbin Municipal Public Security Bureau sparked major controversy: 3 NSA operatives from the U.S. National Security Agency allegedly launched large-scale cyberattacks against the “9th Asian Winter Games” in Harbin and China’s critical information infrastructure by exploiting reserved backdoors in Microsoft Windows systems.
China didn’t publish the photos and reward amount of the attackers, but the announcement indicates that China has the ability to find out the individuals and their identities behind the attack with its technology. And this is likely to accelerate China’s push to replace foreign operating systems with domestically-developed alternatives, a move closely tied to national security concerns.
In the past few years, China was developing its own operating systems and chips. In many government units, Windows PCs are gradually being replaced. The new computers use Loongson and Zhaoxin hardware platforms and run operating systems such as Kylin and Tongxin UOS. However, the lack of application ecosystem is the biggest obstacle to promoting domestic substitution. Office work requires a variety of software and complete drivers to connect various devices. This is why the Chinese government cannot completely abandon the Windows PCs.
Not only the government, but also Chinese companies are seeking alternatives, such as Huawei. It is reported that the Windows license given to it by the US Department of Commerce has expired, and in the future Huawei’s PCs can only be pre-installed with Linux or its own Harmony OS.
This attack has made the government and enterprises pay more attention to potential risks, which is undoubtedly a great help for China to promote domestic computers. Microsoft’s continued closure and relocation of its business in China also indirectly confirms this trend.