Taiwan-ally Palau slams China over "interference", recent cyberattacks

Taipei [Taiwan], July 17 : Surangel Whipps Jr, President of Palau, a Taiwanese ally, has accused China of interferenceand criticized Beijing for blocking a travel industry delegation's visit to Macau, Taiwan News reported
Whipps also accused China over the two cyberattacks faced by Palau thisy year,.
In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Whipps said that China was taking its actions against Palau to a "new level."
He further said that a Palauan delegation aimed to participate in an international travel industry conference in Macau in May but was denied visas due to Palau's diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.
Speaking on the two significant waves of cyberattacks faced by Palau, Whipps alleged a Chinese hand behind it.
Talking about the first cyberattack, Whipps said that in March, thousands of government documents were stolen and released on the dark web, with an investigation tracing the suspects back to China, as reported by Taiwan News.
He added that the second cyberattack in July targeted the country's customs and border protection system, probably to try and disrupt the country's tourism industry. He further said that the second cyber incident could not be confirmed as coming from China, but in both instances, ransomware was involved.
The President further said that the second cyberattack was prevented due to support from countries such as the United States, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan, which helped Palau in upgrading its electronic systems, .
Notably, Palau will have presidential and legislative elections in November this year.
Meanwhile, China has intensified its cyberattacks against Taiwan as well. The cyberattacks had increased to the extent of 2.5 million a day ahead of the presidential inauguration, Taiwan News reported citing the National Security Bureau (NSB) stated.
Following the January 13 presidential and legislative elections, the intelligence agency found that China was launching 1 million cyberattacks daily.
The surge ahead of the May 20 presidential inauguration is mostly directed against government bodies.
According to Taiwan News, NSB officials responded to lawmakers' inquiries, stating that disinformation and cyberattacks were frequent. However, they affirmed that they would continue to monitor Chinese activities and identify loopholes in Taiwanese networks.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the authorities were investigating allegations that confidential documents had ended up on a hacker's website.
Officials emphasised that all secret documents at the ministry are marked with a watermark or password, making it unlikely that insiders leaked the information.