Yukino Shinohara, the Japanese porn star who was one of the “new friends” allegedly added to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s Facebook account by hackers, told HKFP she did not know anything about the “friendship.”

According to an Apple Daily report on Wednesday, Shinohara was one of a few accounts that had been added as “friends” of the Chief Executive’s on Facebook.

Shinohara confirmed that it was her account that had been involved in the alleged hacking, but when she checked her profile again, she said that Leung was no longer listed as her “friend.”

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Japanese porn star Yukino Shinohara. Photo: Yukino Shinohara.

After being informed that the Hong Kong government had issued a statement on the incident, she told HKFP, “Oh really, it has become a big deal.”

“I totally have no idea [who Leung is],” she added.

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Yukino Shinohara’s tweet about the incident. Photo: HKFP.

The statement issued by the Chief Executive Office said that Leung’s account was suspected to have been hacked on December 24.

“Some information and settings were modified by others, some posts were deleted by others, some ‘new friends’ were added by others, and the Chief Executive’s Facebook profile picture was modified by others,” the statement read.

However, netizens found that some of young ladies claiming to be from Taiwan had been added as “friends” as early as November 23, Stand News reported.

The Chief Executive’s Office has asked for police assistance and hackers are suspected to be behind the newly added  “friends.”

Leung opened a Facebook account with limited access in October. No one is able to see his list of “friends,” and only “friends” can comment on the posts.

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Kris Cheng is a Hong Kong journalist with an interest in local politics. His work has been featured in Washington Post, Public Radio International, Hong Kong Economic Times and others. He has a BSSc in Sociology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Kris is HKFP's Editorial Director.