China plans to launch a major attack on the US this week. But the battlefield in this war will not be on the ground or in the air . . . but over the Internet.
Chinese hackers are gearing up for a cyberspace assault on the United States starting today, and lasting right through the Chinese May Day and Youth Day holidays.
The hacker hostilities between the two countries have been provoked by the April 1st mid-air collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a US surveillance aircraft in which a Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, lost his life.
The Chinese hackers are expected to focus their attention on US government sites. Already three federal sites have been defaced with messages such as:
"The whole country is in sorrow for losing the best son of China - Wang Wei forever we will miss you until the end of the day." While the Chinese Internet community is spurring on "fearless revolutionary heroes", American hackers are warning their rivals of "the wrath of a bloodbath".
One American hacker group, known as PoisonBox, claims to have crippled about 300 Chinese websites in the last month. On the other hand the Hacker Union of China has posted a list of the sites it has managed to deface with photos in memory of Wang Wei.
The US National Infrastructure Protection Agency claims to have uncovered an Internet worm called "Lion" which was infecting computers and sending files to an email addresses in China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has warned local websites to protect themselves against American hackers, citing at least 50 attacks a month.
Meanwhile, a US technical team travelled to China yesterday to inspect the $80 million spy plane which was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan Island after the collision a month ago.
In the first breakthrough in the continuing row over the future of the aircraft, China said at the weekend that the US could inspect the plane packed with sophisticated surveillance equipment.
The US ambassador to China, Mr Joseph Prueher, speaking on his last day in the position, confirmed that a flight carrying the team was on its way via Hawaii. Vice-President Dick Cheney described the move as an "encouraging sign".
While the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the US had agreed to consider unspecified "payments" over the EP-3E spy plane, Mr Cheney emphatically ruled out compensation, saying the US would reimburse only costs associated with recovery of the plane.
Two members of China's outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement have received lengthy jail terms for trying to derail passenger trains in northeast Liaoning province, state media said. Dou Zhenyang was sentenced to life in prison, while Wang Hongjun was given 13 years in jail on charges of "sabotaging communications devices and other crimes," Xinhua news agency said.