China is fighting its war with Taiwan behind closed doors. According to Jim Liu, founder of Lucent Sky, a Taiwanese internet security company Taiwan is the frontline in an emerging global battle for cyberspace.

He thinks the Island has become a rehearsal area for the Chinese cyberattacks that have strained ties with the United States. Liu said that the island had seen everything over the last ten years, but what it is clear is that the method is tested on the islanders before being tried on the US.

“We'll see a specific attack signature here, and then six months later see the same signature in an attack on the States," he said.

This cyber war playing out across the narrow Taiwan Strait first came to public attention in 2003, when a Taiwanese police agency realised hackers had nicked personal data, including household registration information, from its computer system.