Local media report that McDonald's (MCD) website was attacked by a hacker at around 10PM on December 25. As a result, the homepage of the website was altered to show a "head of death" on a black background.

The fast food chain's site also was left with a message that said "Chinese Hacker" was the culprit and the hacker said on the site that he or she was outraged by McDonald's listing of Taiwan as an independent nation. The website was later recovered at about 11:30PM, but again attacked later in the night and the problem was not fixed until 8:30PM, December 26.

In the country selection areas of McDonald's website, there is no item for all of China and there are separate selections for Taiwan and Hong Kong. So far, McDonald has not made any explanation on the issue.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province and is working currently on anti-secession laws that may make Taiwan's current status illegal.