Taiwan questions two people as part of investigation into Hezbollah pager explosions

Local media reported that the second person interviewed was Wu Yu-jen, a representative of BAC Consulting KFT, who founded a Taipei-based company called Apollo Systems.

“Our country takes the case very seriously,” the prosecutor’s office in Taipei’s Shilin district said in a statement on Friday.

“We instructed the Investigation Bureau’s National Security Station to additionally interview two people from Taiwanese companies as witnesses yesterday.”

After several rounds of questioning, the two witnesses were allowed to leave the room.

“We will clarify the facts as soon as possible, such as whether Taiwanese companies are involved or not,” the office said.

It also said investigators searched four locations, including in Xizhi District in New Taipei City, where Gold Apollo is located, and in Neihu District in Taipei.

Neihu District is Apollo Systems’ registered address, according to a trade registry website, which shows the company was founded in April this year.

According to local television footage, Wu did not speak to reporters when she was taken in for questioning on Thursday.

Economic Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters on Friday that Gold Apollo’s Taiwan-made pagers are made of components that are “simple ICs (integrated circuits) and batteries.”

“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.”

When asked about the pagers used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, he said: “We can be sure that they are not made in Taiwan.”

Prime Minister Cho Jung-tai also reiterated on Friday that “the company and Taiwan have not exported pagers directly to Lebanon.”

Earlier this week, Gold Apollo said the pager model mentioned in media reports was “manufactured and sold by BAC.”

However, a spokesman for the Hungarian government said that BAC Consulting KFT was “a commercial agent with no production or operating facility in Hungary”.