China is turning up the pressure on a Taipei mayoral candidate by punishing his family's business, a move his camp says will backfire with voters.

• Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office banned a second company linked to the father of DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Po-yang from any dealings with mainland firms.
• Beijing claims the father shifted trade to the new company to dodge an earlier ban imposed in June 2025.
• Shen, already blacklisted as a "stubborn independence element" and under a Chinese arrest warrant, brushed it off as recycled smear material and said his family's business was with Ecuador.
• A pro-Beijing Hong Kong paper ran the allegations first, a day before the official announcement.
• Shen's campaign says Taipei voters are picking a mayor and this kind of pressure will not win their trust.

Outlook: Expect Beijing to keep escalating against Shen's family and associates as Taipei's mayoral race heats up, with little sign it shifts Taiwanese opinion.