Fake supporter accounts based in Hong Kong showed up backing several KMT candidates in Taiwan, then vanished — bad news for the candidates, who now face accusations of foreign meddling in the campaign.

• A Threads account promoting KMT Hualien county magistrate candidate Yu Shu-chen was traced to Hong Kong.
• Similar Hong Kong-based accounts backed KMT figures Hsieh Lung-chieh and Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an.
• The accounts used mainland-style Chinese spelling, not the romanization Taiwanese normally use, and pushed attacks on the ruling party.
• Yu denied any link, said she never authorized or ran the account, and blamed a smear by online operatives of the ruling party.
• Shortly after her denial, all three accounts disappeared — timing critics called too convenient to be chance.

Outlook: Expect more scrutiny of foreign-run social media accounts as Taiwan's local election campaign heats up.