Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Sandy Yen (
"I have received tips and have reported it to the Bureau of Investigation. Their initial investigation showed that computers at these places had been hacked or implanted with viruses by unidentified Chinese hackers," Yen said in a press release.
She said that several legislative aides had discovered that their computers, which are hooked up to the legislature's network, had also been hacked.
Their computers automatically distributed e-mail messages with viruses or fraudulent information to random recipients, she said.
Yen said the bureau had found that Chinese hackers were targeting certain DPP legislative candidates, hacking into their computers and sending e-mail messages to their supporters and the press containing fake information.
The bureau found that at least 20 DPP legislative candidates were affected, she said.
Yen said that the bureau believed Chinese hackers had possibly targeted certain computers to disrupt the elections or affect the campaigns of specific DPP legislative candidates.
The identity of the hackers remains a mystery, Yen said.
Yen said computer technicians were working on computers at the legislature to patch up weak spots in the network, delete viruses and restore files.
In related news, Web log service providers including Pixnet have discovered that domestic blogs are being blocked by Chinese firewalls.
Service providers said the blockade could be related to the upcoming elections and the appearance of political campaign ads on Web sites, or because of this year's Beijing Olympics.
Taiwanese businesses in China say that they are accustomed to Web sites being blocked without explanation.
Pixnet, Taiwan's fifth-largest blogging service provider, noticed two months ago that users in China could not access its content.
After ascertaining that its own systems were functioning normally, Pixnet determined the cause to be Chinese firewalls. While unable to provide an explanation, Pixnet chairman Lee Chun-kuang (
Taiwanese blogs on Sina, a China-based company, are also blocked, with the exception of blogs that discuss Taiwanese celebrities.
Yam's Taiwanese blogs have been blocked for over a year.
Chinese authorities censor international news concerning China and subjects abroad they deem sensitive, such as the Dalai Lama.
Most Taiwanese media Web sites are blocked in China.
Some search engines and Web services, such as Yahoo, filter their search results in response to pressure from Beijing.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
RSS