“We believe it is a common practice for Chinese authorities to employ hackers to steal information abroad, and it poses a serious threat to global Internet safety,” said spokesman Chen Chi-mai. - Reuters (File Photo)

TAIPEI: Taiwan's main opposition party on Tuesday accused hackers backed by the Chinese state of stealing information related to its presidential campaign in the run up to elections in January 2012.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which favours Taiwan's independence from China, said that in the last four months, it had traced more than a dozen cyber attacks to Chinese IP addresses.

It said that hackers mainly targeted its presidential campaign planning as the party gears up for elections against the incumbent Ma Ying-jeou of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party.

“We believe it is a common practice for Chinese authorities to employ hackers to steal information abroad, and it poses a serious threat to global Internet safety,” said spokesman Chen Chi-mai.

The accusation comes after the California-based computer security firm McAfee said last week that 72 targets across 14 countries were victims of a massive global cyber spying campaign, with China seen as the likely culprit.

Chinese state media decried that allegation as “irresponsible”.

Taiwan and China have spied on each other ever since they split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Beijing still regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Observers say the DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, who is running against Ma in the elections, is the candidate less favoured by China.

Taiwan's government websites have frequently faced cyber attacks, usually during disputes between the island and the mainland.

Taiwan's National Security Bureau said last year that it was targeted by nearly half-a-million cyber attacks each month, although only about 12 percent were from China while the majority originated from the island itself.

A top Taiwanese prosecutor in charge of probing several major scandals, including a Chinese spy case, was also targeted by Chinese hackers late last year. They reportedly obtained confidential information from his home computer.

The DPP's Chen said the party has been collecting evidence of the recent cyber attacks against its presidential campaign, which will be forwarded to the police.