Taiwan’s Economy Minister confirms pagers used in Lebanon attacks were not made in Taiwan

The two incidents resulted in 37 fatalities in Lebanon

Web Desk

20 Sep, 2024

World

Taiwan’s economy minister has stated that the components utilized in thousands of pagers that detonated in Lebanon, resulting in a deadly strike against Hezbollah, were not produced in Taiwan.

A Taiwan-based company, Gold Apollo, clarified that it did not manufacture the devices involved in the attack. Instead, the pagers were linked to Budapest-based BAC, which holds a license to use Gold Apollo’s brand.

The details on how and when the pagers were converted for remote detonation remain unclear, as do the specifics regarding the hand-held radios used by Hezbollah that exploded in a subsequent attack.

The two incidents resulted in 37 fatalities and approximately 3,000 injuries in Lebanon.

“The components are (mainly) low-end IC (integrated circuits) and batteries,” Taiwan’s Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told.

“I can say with certainty they were not made in Taiwan,” he added.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung responded “no” when asked if he had met with the de facto Israeli ambassador to discuss concerns about the situation. He mentioned that Taiwan is instructing its missions abroad to enhance security awareness and will share relevant information with other nations.

Security sources indicated that Israel was behind the pager explosions on Tuesday, escalating tensions between the two sides. Israel has not issued a direct comment regarding the attacks.

As Taiwanese authorities investigate any potential connections between its extensive global tech supply chains and the devices involved in the Lebanon attacks, Gold Apollo’s president and founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, was questioned by prosecutors late Thursday before being released. Another individual at the prosecutor’s office was Teresa Wu, the only employee of a company called Apollo System, who did not make any statements to the press as she left.

Hsu noted that Teresa was one of his contacts for the deal with BAC. The Shilin District Prosecutors Office in Taipei confirmed that it had interviewed two individuals as witnesses and had received permission to search four locations associated with their companies in Taiwan as part of the investigation.

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