Lyra Martin Tech 08.02.2022 22:Aug PM EDT

Taiwan's Presidential Website is Hit by a Cyberattack Ahead of Nancy Pelosi's Visit

The presidential website was taken down by a DDoS assault, according to Chang Tun-Han, the presidential spokesperson for Taiwan, but it was up and running again in just 20 minutes.

An Outside Cyber Attack Shut Down Taiwan's Presidential Website

Taiwan's presidential website was taken down by what appears to have been a hack as more than 300,000 people eagerly monitored the course of SPAR19, the US Air Force jet carrying Nancy Pelosi on her tour of Asia.

Taiwanese presidential spokeswoman Chang Tun-Han claimed in a Facebook post by Gizmodo that a distributed denial-of-service assault brought down the website early on Tuesday (August 2) evening.

Tun-Han claims that the attack came from outside Taiwan and that the website received more than 200 times as much traffic as usual. They say that within 20 minutes, the website was operating normally again. However, when Engadget went to take a look, all that could be seen was a single line reading OK.

Pelosi's plane arrived in Taiwan late Tuesday night, Taipei Standard Time, and regional news outlets say she'll stay overnight. Speaker Pelosi is the highest-ranking American to visit Taiwan in 25 years. Before Pelosi's Tuesday trip, China threatened "resolute and powerful steps."

According to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China (PRC) is the only legal government that represents all of China, and Taiwan is inalienable. The world community says "one China" is a globally acknowledged standard.

The US maintains "strategic ambiguity" with Taiwan. In 1972, Richard Nixon, who had been president, went to mainland China. During Nixon's visit, the US agreed that all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should say that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China.

Pelosi tweeted, "America's support for Taiwan's 23 million people is more important than ever." The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, US-China Joint Communiqués, and Six Assurances guide US policy. Countless congressional delegations have visited Taiwan.

Moscow Labeled Nancy Pelosi's Trip to Taiwan a Provocation

On Tuesday (August 2), Moscow called a possible trip to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a provocation and showed its full support for ally China.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, told reporters, "what is going on with this tour and a possible trip to Taiwan is a pure provocation."

He said that the possible visit was making things worse in the area and that Washington was taking "the path of confrontation."

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, also said that the United States was being rude about the possible visit.

Faced with sanctions and isolation from the rest of the world that had never happened before because of its military campaign in pro-Western Ukraine, Russia has tried to get closer to China and shown solidarity with Beijing over Taiwan.

China has often warned that it would regard Pelosi's visit as a severe provocation since it considers Taiwan its territory.

Pelosi would be a more prominent visitor than any in recent memory, despite the fact that American officials frequently make covert trips to Taiwan to express support. Pelosi is now touring many Asian nations.

China is constantly threatening to annex democratic Taiwan. Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has increased concerns that Beijing may carry out promises to acquire its weaker and more vulnerable neighbor.