Why Did Chinese Hackers Launch a Massive Cyber-Attack on This Website?

It’s possible that the recent attack on Sony Pictures by North Korean hackers was a PR stunt for The Interview. But a new assault by hackers from mainland China definitely isn’t.

This time, the target was the official website of New York-based Shen YunPerforming Arts which is a world-class classical Chinese dance company.

From Jan. 5 to 7, as the new global tour was starting for 2015, Shen Yun’s website suffered large-scale network attacks during which hackers hijacked a large number of computers, and mobilized the resources in an attempt to paralyze the site.

Mr. Wang, a website technician, told Epoch Times that the disruption started at midnight on Jan. 5, and it reached its peak on Jan. 7. Administrators were unable to log in during that time. Wang said:

The data shows that the attack originated in mainland China.

It’s believed that the Chinese Communist Party is behind the incident because the resources needed to deploy such a large-scale attack are considerable.

Some of the dances in the Shen Yun show the persecution of Falun Gong meditators in China, and portray state police harming practitioners.

The spiritual discipline is guided by the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance, and has been subjected to a ruthless eradication campaign in mainland China since 1999, when up to 100 million people were estimated to be practicing it.

Wang said the company has submitted a report to the FBI over the network attacks from China, asking the federal government to investigate them.