A Taipei city councilor has been charged with spreading a forged document during Taiwan's 2024 elections, a case that puts fake political leaks and campaign dirty tricks back in the spotlight.

• New Party councilor Hou Han-ting was indicted for showing a document he said came from the ruling DPP without checking whether it was real.
• The paper claimed the DPP was directing government agencies and friendly media to smear rivals as pro-China — the DPP says no such body exists.
• Prosecutors called it a fake, pointing to typos and simplified Chinese characters that Taiwanese officials would not use.
• Hou said he got it from a former lawmaker who had already warned him it looked fake, and his own messages suggest he checked only after going public.
• Hou says he is innocent and will fight the charge in court.

Outlook: The case heads to trial, with Taiwan's courts set to test how far campaign speech can go before it becomes election interference.