Taiwan’s national security forces are keeping a close eye on the incident of thousands of pager (wireless communication device) explosions targeting Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo said this on Wednesday. He made this statement after reports emerged that a Taiwanese company was involved in manufacturing the pagers.
Taiwan-based company Gold Apollo said they did not manufacture the pagers used in the attack. These were made by a company based in Budapest, Hungary. The company has permission to use Apollo Gold’s license.
Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters in Taipei,
“The Taiwanese government is observing the incident very closely.”
He said,
“Since the news of the pager explosion was published, Taiwan’s national security agencies have been monitoring the incident very carefully.”
However, he did not provide any further details.
Nine people were killed in Lebanon due to the pager explosion. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed revenge against Israel for this incident. However, Israel has not claimed responsibility for this attack.
Intermittent fighting has been ongoing for several months between Hezbollah and Israeli forces along the Israel-Lebanon border, centered around Israel’s aggression in Gaza that has been going on for almost a year.
Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel. However, there are informal relations between the two countries.
On October 7 last year, Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented attack on Israel. Taiwan immediately condemned this incident. At that time, Taiwan expressed sympathy for Israel as well as stated its support for the country.
The Israeli ambassador in Taipei said last year,
‘Taiwan has always been a good friend. We appreciate their support. However, China’s reaction to the October 7 attack was horrible.’
When asked if Israel had provided information to Taiwan about the pager explosion incident in advance, Koo said that this had not happened.
Taiwan has always been a good friend. We appreciate their support. However, China’s reaction to the October 7 attack was horrible.
Sun Li-fang, spokesperson for Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, said that the company (Apollo Gold) has officially stated that they did not manufacture the pagers. He further said that when it comes to international relations, Taiwan wants relations that will help maintain stability there. It does not want any relations that might be involved in potentially provocative activities outside the region.
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