CNA is reporting that a confidential source has indicated that recent
accusations against Taipei Mayoral Candidate Puma Shen's father are
fabricated by China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

That's after Hong Kong media outlets reports that Shen's father was doing
business with China.

The source says that the original report is the result of the TAO's
manuevering, and that those outlets forwarded the reports to Taiwanese media
outlets, who did not publish the stories.

That person says that, it was for this reason that the TAO held another press
conference today to push the narrative.

They also added that the Hong Kong media outlets, when forwarding the
information to the Taiwanese ones, intentionally attempted to broaden the
reach by having them be from Hong Kong outlets rather than Chinese ones.

However, it would appear that that was not successful, as only a handful of
fringe oulets and social media accounts reposted the reports.

(AH)