Hackers hit Wen

Beijing monitors China’s Internet users; Chinese Internet users monitor Beijing. Or at least hackers based in Taiwan recently tapped into a top State Council official’s computer to snatch drafts of Premier Wen Jiabao’s government work report and other  documents. According to the South China Morning Post:   “The documents included comments from Politburo members who wanted ...

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587245_090401_wen22.jpg
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gestures as he answers a question during a press conference to mark the closing session of the annual National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 13, 2009. Nearly 3,000 Chinese lawmakers wrapped up their full session of parliament, an annual exercise of the largely rubber-stamp legislature that this year focused on the global economic crisis. AFP PHOTO/LIU Jin (Photo credit should read LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Beijing monitors China's Internet users; Chinese Internet users monitor Beijing. Or at least hackers based in Taiwan recently tapped into a top State Council official's computer to snatch drafts of Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report and other  documents.

Beijing monitors China’s Internet users; Chinese Internet users monitor Beijing. Or at least hackers based in Taiwan recently tapped into a top State Council official’s computer to snatch drafts of Premier Wen Jiabao’s government work report and other  documents.

According to the South China Morning Post

 “The documents included comments from Politburo members who wanted to change this or that in the government report. These are regarded as top state secrets, even more sensitive than the government report itself,” one source said. “Mr Wen was said to be furious when told about the case.”

This happened in March, prior to Wen delivering the equivalent of China’s State of the Union address at the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress in Beijing.

No secrets were revealed as to the source of the mysterious and unchanging GDP predictions, but according to SCMP, speculation based on the report did leak out and jigger global stock markets.

LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images

Christina Larson is an award-winning foreign correspondent and science journalist based in Beijing, and a former Foreign Policy editor. She has reported from nearly a dozen countries in Asia. Her features have appeared in the New York Times, Wired, Science, Scientific American, the Atlantic, and other publications. In 2016, she won the Overseas Press Club of America’s Morton Frank Award for international magazine writing. Twitter: @larsonchristina

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