Taiwan and Bulgaria Deny Producing Pagers That Exploded in Lebanon

On September 20, Taiwan’s government and Bulgarian authorities both issued statements denying involvement in the production of the exploding pagers linked to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Taiwan’s economy minister, Kuo Jyh-huei, stated to the media that the pagers in question were not manufactured in Taiwan. He asserted, “The components for Hezbollah’s pagers were not produced by us.”

Further clarifying Taiwan’s position, the foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, emphasized the need to uncover the truth behind the alleged transactions. He noted that Taiwan has never exported this specific model of pager.

Bulgaria’s National Security State Agency also confirmed that investigations conducted by multiple governmental bodies found no evidence that the devices involved in the explosions in Lebanon and Syria were “imported, exported or manufactured in Bulgaria.”

Additionally, a statement from the agency mentioned that the company “Nortal Global” had not engaged in any transactions related to the devices under Bulgarian jurisdiction.

Hsu Ching-Kuang, CEO of Gold Apollo, explained that his company had licensed its trademark to a Hungarian company called BAC Consulting to distribute pagers in certain regions. However, Hungarian officials clarified that BAC Consulting acted purely as an intermediary and did not have the capability to manufacture the devices in Hungary.

Reports suggest Israel is believed to be behind the attacks, with Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant describing the explosions as the beginning of a “new phase in the war.” Yet, Israel has not taken direct responsibility for the events.

The New York Times reported on the situation, citing three unnamed intelligence officials who claimed that BAC Consulting and two additional shell companies were established to obscure the involvement of Israeli intelligence officers in the creation of the pagers.

In a related development, Japan’s Icom, Inc. also released a statement asserting that they did not manufacture the IC-V82 model walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, which also exploded in Lebanon the previous day. Icom clarified that this model had been discontinued about a decade ago and had not been shipped from their company since.