Hackers alter political site
2004-06-22 15:03
Taipei - Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was embarrassed to find its official website was vandalised by Chinese hackers, who posted a picture showing the island's leaders in traditional Japanese robes, officials said on Tuesday.
Instead of greeting their supporters in formal dresses, the images of Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian and Vice-President Annette Lu were clad in Japanese robes with Chen's partner baring her chest, DPP officials said.
Beside the picture was a caption reading "Ah-Bian and Ah-Lien trying their new dresses for the May 20 [inauguration]". Chen, dubbed "Ah-Bian", and his partner, dubbed "Ah-Lien", beat their opposition challengers to win the March 20 election by a razor-thin 0.2 percent margin.
They were inaugurated for a second term on May 20. On the two sides of the picture were slogans reading "Down with Ah-Bian" and "Oppose Taiwan independence", the officials said, adding they had removed the picture.
"The hackers have attacked our website for two weeks in a row, and we are seeking help from relevant authorities to stop such an attack," said Chung Chia-ping, deputy secretary-general of the DPP.
But he said no damage was found in the website's data bank. Both Chen and his pro-independence DPP are considered an eye-sore to Beijing, which has viewed Taiwan as a Chinese province subject to eventual union with the mainland, despite the fact that the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.
China has warned Taiwan against declaring independence, saying such a move would prompt a military attack from the mainland.
- SAPA