The New York Times reported this week that Israel had inserted explosive material into a shipment of pagers from Taiwan’s Gold Apollo, citing American and other anonymous officials.
But Gold Apollo head Hsu Ching-kuang denied producing the devices, pointing the finger instead at Hungary-based partner BAC Consulting KFT, which Gold Apollo had allowed to use its trademark.
Local media reported that the second person questioned was Wu Yu-jen, a representative connected to BAC Consulting KFT, who had set up a company based in Taipei called “Apollo Systems”.
“Our country takes the case very seriously,” said the prosecutors’ office in Taipei’s Shilin district in a statement on Friday.
“We instructed the Investigation Bureau’s national security station to further interview two people from Taiwanese companies as witnesses yesterday.”
It also said investigators had searched four locations, including in New Taipei City’s Xizhi district, where Gold Apollo is located, and in Taipei’s Neihu district.
“These things would not explode,” he said, adding that Gold Apollo had exported 260,000 pagers in the past two years and “there has never been an explosion”.
Premier Cho Jung-tai also reiterated Friday that “the company and Taiwan did not directly export pagers to Lebanon”.
But a Hungarian government spokesman said BAC Consulting KFT was “a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary”.
