TAIPEI/SYDNEY • Election campaigning in Taiwan was hit at the weekend by new allegations that Beijing had tried to meddle in the island's politics.

A Chinese defector, named as Wang "William" Liqiang by Australian media, gave a sworn statement to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation about Beijing's efforts to influence politics in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia.

In particular, Mr Wang said he helped guide positive media attention towards certain Taiwanese politicians, including President Tsai Ing-wen's main opponent, Mr Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang party (KMT).

Mr Han said he would drop out if it was shown that he had taken money from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

China said in a statement that Mr Wang is a convicted fraudster who travelled on fake documents.

"The man ... was sentenced to one year and three months in prison for fraud with a suspended sentence of a year-and-half by the court of Guangze county in Fujian in October 2016," it said, adding that Shanghai police had opened an investigation into Mr Wang in April for an alleged fake car importation scam.

Taiwan is already on high alert for Chinese attempts to sway presidential and legislative elections scheduled for Jan 11, whether through disinformation campaigns or military intimidation.

"Taiwan was the most important work of ours: the infiltration into media, temples, and grassroots organisations," Mr Wang said in an interview on Australia's Channel 9.

The details about what China is suspected of doing in Taiwan quickly provoked strong reaction from both Mr Han and his party and Ms Tsai and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which supports Taiwan's formal independence, a red line for Beijing.

Speaking on a campaign stop last Saturday, Ms Tsai said China's "shadow" was becoming more and more obvious. Taiwan must not let China destroy its democratic values, she added.

Deputy Foreign Minister Szu-chien Hsu said in an interview with Channel 9 that Taiwan was facing "multiple" threats from China.

DPP chairman Cho Jung-tai said on his Facebook page that the KMT was teaming up with the CCP against Taiwan and urged people to use their vote wisely, adding: "Will one ballot decide whether Taiwan wants to go into totalitarian China with the Kuomintang?"

The KMT has called the reports in the Australian media "quite sensational", adding that it hoped the government did not use this to "play the fear of the communist's card".

Mr Han told reporters he had doubts about what the defector was claiming, asking how the KMT lost the last presidential election in 2016 if China really was swaying elections.

"In this year's presidential election, if Han Kuo-yu has taken even one cent, he will immediately drop out of the race," he said, adding that he needed more information.

"Can Mr Wang please come directly to Taiwan, and not hide overseas?"

China's Taiwan Affairs Office said that Beijing was not intervening in Taiwan's election, and called accusations to the contrary "nonsense". Taiwan's government says it is investigating Mr Wang's claims.

Meanwhile, Mr Andrew Hastie, who chairs the Australian Parliament's joint committee on intelligence and security, said Mr Wang should be granted asylum.

"I'm of the view that anyone who's willing to assist us in defending our sovereignty deserves our protection," he told reporters.

Mr Hastie, a vocal critic of Beijing, was banned from entering China earlier this month, and has previously said that Australia's sovereignty and freedoms could be threatened by Beijing.

REUTERS, DPA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE