Components for pagers used in Lebanon blasts not from Taiwan, minister says

CEO of Taiwan-based Gold Apollo released aft questioning implicit relation successful deadly explosions.

Components utilized successful thousands of pagers that detonated connected Tuesday successful Lebanon successful a deadly stroke to Hezbollah were not made successful Taiwan, Taiwan’s system curate has said.

Taiwan-based Gold Apollo said this week it did not manufacture the devices utilized successful the attack, and that Budapest-based institution BAC to which the pagers were traced has a licence to usage its brand.

It was not wide however oregon erstwhile the pagers were weaponised truthful they could beryllium remotely detonated. The aforesaid applies to the hundreds of hand-held radios utilized by Hezbollah that exploded connected Wednesday successful a 2nd question of attacks. The 2 incidents killed 37 radical and wounded astir 3,000 successful Lebanon.

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

When helium was pressed connected whether the parts successful the pagers that exploded were made in Taiwan, helium said, “I tin accidental with certainty they were not made in Taiwan,” adding the lawsuit is being investigated by judicial authorities.

Security sources said Israel was liable for the pager explosions connected Tuesday that raised the stakes successful a increasing struggle betwixt the 2 sides. Israel has not straight commented connected the attacks.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, besides speaking to reporters astatine parliament, answered “no” erstwhile asked if helium had met with the de facto Israeli ambassador to explicit interest astir the case.

“We are asking our missions overseas to rise their information consciousness and volition speech applicable accusation with different countries,” Lin said.

As Taiwanese authorities look into immoderate imaginable nexus betwixt its sprawling planetary tech proviso chains and the devices utilized successful the attacks successful Lebanon, Gold Apollo’s president and founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, was questioned by prosecutors precocious into the nighttime connected Thursday, past released.

Another idiosyncratic besides astatine the prosecutor’s bureau was Teresa Wu, the sole worker of a institution called Apollo System, who did not talk to reporters arsenic she near precocious connected Thursday.

Hsu said this week a idiosyncratic called Teresa had been 1 of his contacts for the woody with BAC.

A spokesperson for the Shilin District Prosecutors Office successful Taipei told the Reuters quality bureau that it had questioned 2 radical arsenic witnesses and was fixed consent to behaviour searches of their firms’ 4 locations successful Taiwan arsenic portion of its investigation.

“We’ll question to find if determination was immoderate imaginable engagement of these Taiwanese companies arsenic soon arsenic possible, to guarantee the information of the state and its people,” the spokesperson said.

Iran-aligned Hezbollah has pledged to retaliate against Israel, which has not claimed work for the detonations. The 2 sides person been engaged successful cross-border warfare since struggle successful Gaza erupted past October.