China renews effort to install home-grown operating systems on government computers
Move comes amid fears of overseas-generated cyberattacks as phasing out the use of foreign-made computer chips and software also being considered
The mainland has renewed a push to install “made in China” operating systems on government computers to free the country from relying on the foreign alternatives, media there reported yesterday.
One of the country’s top computer science engineers, Ni Guangnan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told Tencent that he has received positive comments from “high-ranking officials” for his proposal to phase out foreign computer operating systems in government departments.
“I cannot say anything explicitly what their comments are … The official message regarding internet security has always been clear. The establishment of the new Internet Security Group [in February this year] an example [of the message],” Ni, who has played a substantial role in developing the home-grown system, said.
The replacement schedule is yet to be finalised, but Beijing hopes to reach “a prominent primary goal” by 2020, the Beijing Times today quoted another source close to the matter as saying.
According to the source, the mainland government is also considering phasing out foreign-made computer chips and software use by state-owned enterprises and local governments.
The country has seen a renewed urgency to develop its own operating system in fear of overseas cyberattacks. Beijing complained that hundreds of millions of domestic computers had been hacked or under surveillance after the US accused several PLA members of hacking into American corporations.
