Honker (simplified Chinese: 紅客; traditional Chinese: 紅客; pinyin: hóngkè) is a group known for hacktivism, mainly present in Mainland China. Literally the name means "Red Guest", as compared to the usual Chinese transliteration of hacker (黑客, hēikè, literally Black Guest as in black hat).
Logo of Honker in mainland ChinaThe word "Honker" emerged after May 1999, when the United States bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and since then, Honkers formed a Honker Union, whose members combined hacking skills with patriotism and nationalism, and launched a series of attacks on websites in the United States, mostly government-related sites.
The name also suggests that a hacker in red, the color of the Communist party, is in combat with hackers in the dark. In the following years, Honkers remained active in hactivism supporting the Chinese government against what they view as the imperialism of the United States and the militarism of Japan.
