Unknown hackers on Friday blocked access to the official website of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, Tibetan officials said.

The website, www.tibet.net, offered "blank" as a message or drew Internet surfers to other Tibet-related sites through the Google search engine.

The hacked website, constructed four years ago, had been carrying a flurry of anti-Chinese statements since March 10, when Beijing ordered a crackdown on riots which erupted in the Tibetan capital Lhasa. Tibet.net had also carried several statements of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and had turned into a vehicle of support for the exiles to crank up their opposition to the Beijing Olympics Games in August. A spokesman for the Dalai Lama said he was aware of the hacking, which came a day after Indian newspapers reported an attack on computer servers of India's diplomatic mission in Beijing.

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama said he was aware of the hacking, which came a day after Indian newspapers reported an attack on computer servers of India’s diplomatic mission in Beijing.“We are not surprised as this had happened a couple of years ago,” said Tenzin Takla, the Dalai Lama’s spokesman by telephone from the Indian town of Dharamshala.Tibetan exiles said they did not know who had hacked into the website but said they suspected it could be the Chinese.“Who else could it be but China that destroyed our website?” said Tibetan student Dolma.
Source: AFP