Taiwan’s economy minister announced on Friday that the components used in pagers that exploded in Lebanon, causing significant damage to Hezbollah, were not made in Taiwan.
Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based company, stated this week that it did not manufacture the devices involved in the attack. Instead, the pagers were traced to a Budapest-based company, BAC, which has a license to use Gold Apollo’s brand.
It remains unclear how the pagers were modified to allow for remote detonation, and the same uncertainty applies to the hand-held radios used by Hezbollah that exploded in a second round of attacks. These incidents resulted in 37 deaths and around 3,000 injuries in Lebanon.
Taiwan’s Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei confirmed to reporters that the components in the pagers were mainly low-end integrated circuits (ICs) and batteries. When asked if the parts used in the pagers were made in Taiwan, he firmly stated, “I can say with certainty they were not made in Taiwan,” adding that the matter is under investigation by judicial authorities.
Security sources suggested that Israel was behind the pager explosions, escalating tensions between the two sides, but Israel has not officially commented on the attacks.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung responded “no” when asked if he met with the Israeli ambassador to discuss the situation. He mentioned that Taiwan is instructing its missions abroad to enhance their security awareness and will share relevant information with other countries.
As Taiwanese authorities investigate any potential connections between their tech supply chains and the devices used in the Lebanon attacks, Gold Apollo’s president, Hsu Ching-kuang, was questioned by prosecutors late Thursday but was later released. Another individual, Teresa Wu, the only employee of a company called Apollo System, also spoke to prosecutors but did not make any comments to the press as she left.
Hsu noted that a person named Teresa was one of his contacts for the deal with BAC. A spokesperson for the Shilin District Prosecutors Office in Taipei reported that they had questioned two people as witnesses and received permission to search four locations of their firms in Taiwan as part of the investigation.
Hezbollah, which is aligned with Iran, has promised to retaliate against Israel, which has not taken responsibility for the detonations. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border conflict since the violence in Gaza began last October.
