An adviser to Hong Kong pro-democracy magnate Jimmy Lai resigned after admitting to helping finance a controversial case involving Joe Biden’s son in China, specifying that the billionaire had no knowledge of the fire.
The 64-page document, written by a fictitious author, circulated online and was used by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump in an attempt to discredit the Democratic candidate by claiming his son Hunter had a business relationship with China.
Investigations launched in recent days have raised a multitude of questions about the origin of the document, how it was compiled and its veracity.
In a series of tweets over the weekend, Mr Lai claimed his advisor Mark Simon, who is very critical of Mr Biden, had “worked on this project”.
“Mark used my company’s money to pay for the research he commissioned. It was only $ 10,000 so he didn’t need my green light, ”Lai said.
“I know it’s hard to believe I didn’t know anything about it, and my integrity is being damaged,” he added.
Mr. Simon resigned this weekend.
In emails to AFP, he said Sunday that he had acted on his own to fund some of the research that had served to develop the case.
“The Apple Daily has nothing to do with the file, and neither does Mr. Lai,” he added, citing the name of a Hong Kong pro-democracy tabloid which belongs to Mr. Lai.
The US channel NBC aired an investigation on Friday, saying there were many questions about the identity of the authors and sources of the 64-page document.
The channel discovered that the man who is presented as its author, a certain Swiss analyst called Martin Aspen, did not exist, that his identity was invented and that his photo had been made with specialized software.
NBC had claimed that scholar Christopher Balding, a former professor at Fulbright University Vietnam, admitted having been involved in the creation of this report and admitted that Mr. Aspen did not exist.
He said the document was “sponsored by Apple Daily”, a fiercely anti-Beijing daily.
The tabloid, like Mr. Simon, has dismissed the accusations.
Mr. Lai, 71, has long been one of Beijing’s pet peeves due to his involvement in the pro-democracy movement.
He spoke favorably of Mr. Trump’s willingness to stand up to Beijing and is the main Hong Kong tycoon to have done so.
Mr. Lai was one of the first people to be arrested this summer in the name of a controversial national security law that was imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong.
The Apple Daily newsroom has been the target of a spectacular search by 1,200 Hong Kong police officers, as authorities accuse Lai of collusion with foreign forces.