The Taiwanese government has found itself embroiled in a controversy after fragments of pagers used by the armed group Hezbollah in a recent attack in Lebanon were traced back to a Taiwanese manufacturer, Gold Apollo. However, Taiwan’s economy minister, Kuo Jyh-huei, has vehemently denied any involvement, stating that the components for Hezbollah’s pagers were not produced by Taiwanese companies.
The incident, which resulted in the deaths of 12 people, including two children, and the injury of nearly 3,000 others, has been attributed to Israel by the Lebanese government. The escalation of violence, including another attack involving exploding walkie-talkies, has further strained the already tense relationship between Israel and Hezbollah.
Gold Apollo boss Hsu Ching-Kuang has also denied any connection to the attacks, claiming that his company licensed its trademark to a Hungarian company called BAC Consulting, which allegedly used the Gold Apollo name on their own pagers. However, attempts to contact BAC have been unsuccessful, and the Hungarian government has stated that BAC has no manufacturing or operational site in the country.
In a separate incident, exploding walkie-talkies bearing the logo of Japanese manufacturer Icom were used in another round of blasts in Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of 20 people and the injury of at least 450 others. Icom has distanced itself from the devices, stating that it discontinued production of the walkie-talkies a decade ago.
Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attacks and vowed to seek “just retribution,” while the Israeli military has declined to comment on the allegations. The ongoing conflict between the two sides, which has been escalating since the Gaza conflict last October, has highlighted the complexities of the global electronics supply chain and the challenges of identifying the origins of such devices.
