The nation’s national security team is “paying great attention” to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said, after a Taiwanese firm was linked to the pagers’ production.
Taiwan-based Gold Apollo said it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that they were made by a Budapest-based company that has a license to use its brand.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Koo said that the government was closely watching developments.
Photo: AFP
“After the news came out, my understanding is that at present the relevant national security bodies are paying great attention to this,” he said, without elaborating.
Koo was speaking on Wednesday, in comments embargoed until yesterday.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, which has not claimed responsibility for the detonations that killed at least nine people.
Israel does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the two maintain de facto embassies and have close, though unofficial, ties.
The government moved quickly to condemn last year’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants, which triggered the Gaza war, and offered Taiwan’s strong support and sympathy to Israel.
Koo, asked whether Israel had given Taiwan a heads-up about the explosions or whether the two had security or intelligence exchanges, said Taipei did not have that kind of a relationship with the country.
Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方), sitting next to Koo, said the public information from the company was it did not make the pagers.
When it came to international cooperation, Taiwan wanted the sort that helped maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait, he added.
“Not the kind that involves any possible provocative actions outside the region,” Sun said.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that pagers exported from Taiwan “do not have a problem with exploding.”
National security units are watching online rumors, suspected of originating from abroad, that seek to “maliciously” link the government to the case, Lee added.
“This is not the case. I remind people to beware of fake online information,” she said.
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