Vietnam and China hackers escalate Spratly Islands row

Hackers have taken up where protesters left off

June 9, 2011
Source: BBC

Computer hackers from Vietnam and China have launched campaigns against each other, targeting hundreds of websites including government sites, amid rising anger over a territorial dispute.

Chinese hackers posted Chinese flags on Vietnamese sites, and Vietnamese put images of armed men on Chinese sites.

Both sides claim ownership of islands in the South China Sea.

On the weekend, hundreds of Vietnamese protested against Chinese naval operations in disputed waters.

Apprehension

Relations between Vietnam and China have long been awkward, but public protests are extremely rare.

The demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City followed a confrontation between a Vietnamese ship and Chinese patrol boats last month.

Hanoi accused a Chinese patrol of cutting the cables of a Vietnamese ship conducting seismic research about 120km (80 miles) off Vietnam's coast.

At the time of the incident, China had said that Vietnamese vessels were operating "illegally" and said the country should "refrain from creating trouble".

On Thursday, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made his first comments on the row, saying Vietnam's sovereignty was incontestable in areas of the Paracel and Spratly island groups.

"We continue to affirm strongly and to manifest the strongest determination of all the party, of all the people and of all the army in protecting Vietnamese sovereignty in maritime zones and islands of the country," Mr Dung said in comments reported by the Thanh Nien newspaper.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim territory in the South China Sea.

The area includes important shipping routes and may contain oil and gas deposits.