TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An online media reporter has been detained on suspicion he published a fake opinion poll on behalf of Chinese officials, reports said Friday (Dec. 22).

The survey reportedly showed Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) taking a lead over Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Lai Ching-te (賴清德), even though most opinion polls have put the latter ahead.

The journalist, surnamed Lin (林), acted on a request from an official of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Fujian Provincial Committee, the Liberty Times reported. He claimed he entrusted a professor at Tunghai University named Su (蘇) with interviewing more than 300 people across Taiwan on the phone about the elections, according to the Taichung District Prosecutors Office.

The report published online Wednesday (Dec. 20) had Hou in the lead with 33.05%, followed by Lai at 32.19%, and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in third place with 18.38%.

However, investigators found that Su had not conducted any interviews. The fake opinion polls were published on several websites, misleading the public about the state of the election campaign, prosecutors said.

A court agreed that Lin should be detained based on suspected violations of the Anti-Infiltration Act and the Election and Recall Act, but decided to release Su. Prosecutors disagreed with the latter ruling and would file an appeal, reports said.