China and Philippines in bilateral cyberbullying?

Hackers have taken the already-shaky bilateral relations between the Philippines and China to another level. At the heart of the online dispute is a shoal near the western Philippines where both countries are in a standoff as each shows off battle ships (or fisheries ships). After the website of the University of the Philippines was hacked allegedly by some Chinese who splashed “We come from China! Huangyan Island is Ours!” on the state-owned university’s website, Filipinos reportedly retaliated and defaced several Chinese websites. During the weekend, the China University Media Union was vandalized with the words “Chinese government is clearly retarded. Scarborough Shoal is ours!”  Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte appealed for cooler heads, stressing that the online war is an exercise in futility.

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