Apple Daily Denies Commissioning Hunter Biden Report

Apple Daily on Friday dismissed claims that it commissioned an "intelligence report" which purported to show that Hunter Biden, son of US presidential candidate Joe Biden, had connections with the Chinese Communist Party.

US broadcaster NBC published an article on Friday debunking the 64-page report which it said had been widely spread on right-wing internet sites.

Christopher Balding, who claimed to be one of the authors, told NBC that the report had been commissioned by Apple Daily. NBC also said that a spokesperson for Apple Daily had confirmed it had worked with Balding on the report.

But Apple Daily released a statement on Friday saying it had been wrongly implicated by NBC.

"Apple Daily Hong Kong has never commissioned Christopher Balding or any other person to write the 64-page document mentioned in the NBC report. Apple Daily Hong Kong has nothing to do with the document," the statement said.

"Apple Daily Hong Kong has not received any inquiry from NBC prior to the publication of the NBC report, nor have we made any formal response concerning the NBC report before the release of this statement."

The newspaper also urged NBC to "clarify the confusion created by its report as soon as possible".

In a series of posts on his verified Twitter account on Friday evening, Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai said he and the newspaper had "nothing to do" with the report. He said his assistant, Mark Simon, worked on the report and provided US$10,000 from Lai's personal company to fund it.

"Mark used my private company’s money to reimburse for the research he requested. It’s only US$10,000 so he didn’t have to have my approval," he tweeted

In recent weeks, Mr Lai has openly supported US President Donald Trump in his bid for re-election.

Earlier this month, the New York Post published what it said was an email copied from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden, allegedly indicating that he was receiving a US$10 million annual fee from a Chinese billionaire for "introductions".

Both the report and the alleged email have been used by those on the right to accuse Joe Biden of being beholden to the Chinese government, although he says the allegations are just part of a smear campaign against him.

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