Taiwan Questions Two in Hezbollah Pager Investigation

Taiwan Questions Two in Hezbollah Pager InvestigaTaiwan Questions Two in He

Two individuals from Taiwanese companies were questioned in connection with an investigation into pagers that exploded while being used by Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, according to investigators on Friday. Top officials in Taiwan have emphasized that the devices were not sourced from the island.

The origin and supply of the pagers have been the subject of speculation after hundreds of them, along with walkie-talkies, detonated across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in at least 37 deaths and nearly 3,000 injuries.

A report by The New York Times suggested that Israel had inserted explosive material into a shipment of pagers from Taiwan’s Gold Apollo, citing anonymous American and other officials.

However, Gold Apollo’s head, Hsu Ching-kuang, denied that his company produced the devices in question, attributing the production to Hungary-based partner BAC Consulting KFT, which had been licensed to use Gold Apollo’s trademark.

Reports indicated that the second individual questioned was Wu Yu-jen, a representative connected to BAC Consulting KFT, who had established a Taipei-based company called “Apollo Systems.”

Taipei’s Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office issued a statement on Friday, saying, “Our country takes this case very seriously.” The office confirmed that two individuals from Taiwanese companies had been interviewed as witnesses and released after multiple rounds of questioning. Authorities also conducted searches in four locations, including Gold Apollo’s site in New Taipei City’s Xizhi district and the Neihu district of Taipei, where Apollo Systems is registered.

Wu did not speak to reporters when brought in for questioning on Thursday, according to local news footage.

Taiwan’s Economic Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters that Gold Apollo’s pagers, made in Taiwan, consist of basic components like low-end integrated circuits (IC) and batteries, and he stressed, “These things would not explode.” He added that the company had exported 260,000 pagers in the past two years without any previous incidents of explosions. Kuo assured that the pagers used by Hezbollah were not produced in Taiwan.

Premier Cho Jung-tai also reiterated on Friday that neither the company nor Taiwan had directly exported pagers to Lebanon.

Earlier this week, Gold Apollo clarified that the pager model mentioned in media reports was produced and sold by BAC. However, a Hungarian government spokesperson stated that BAC Consulting KFT is merely a trading intermediary with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary.

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