Taiwanese involvement in Lebanon attacks ‘simply impossible’
Jhy-Chern Liu, a professor at the National University of Science and Technology in Taiwan, said the idea that any Taiwanese firm would get involved in the attack on Lebanon’s Hezbollah was “simply impossible and unthinkable”.
The comments came amid reports that the pagers used in the attacks were made by the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. The firm has since denied the report, saying the devices were made by a company in Europe that had the right to use its brand.
Liu told Al Jazeera that Gold Apollo is a small company, “specialised in making pagers, particularly the types commonly used in food stalls in shopping malls to inform clients that the food or table is ready”.
The company was established in 1995, valued at about $3m and with 35 employees, he said.
“Even though Taiwan has been very close to the US in all aspects, I do not believe that any companies in Taiwan would be involved in a deadly plot like this, considering that Taiwan is an open society and a full democracy,” he added.
Taiwanese company names European firm it says produced pagers
Gold Apollo, the Taiwanese manufacturer of the pagers linked to the deadly explosions in Lebanon, is saying that it has licensed its trademarked design to another company and that it had “no involvement in the design or manufacturing” of the devices.
“We authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC,” the company said in a statement, providing the initials of the firm allegedly responsible for producing the devices.
Gold Apollo founder and president, Hsu Ching-Kuang, said BAC is based in Europe, but declined to offer further details on the firm.
“We may not be a large company but we are a responsible one,” he told reporters at Gold Apollo’s offices in New Taipei City. “This is very embarrassing.”
A police officer arrives at the Gold Apollo office in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on September 18
Taiwanese firm says pagers that exploded were made by BAC Consulting
In another statement today, the Taiwanese company said the pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital Budapest.
“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” the statement read.
Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang and other Gold Apollo representatives did not give more details about BAC at a press briefing and did not show any proof of the organisations’ agreement, the AP reported.
According to the agency, when Hsu was pressed for more information on BAC, he became quiet and left.
What do we know about BAC, the firm said to be behind the pagers’ blasts?
- The model of pagers used in detonations in Lebanon was made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting, Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo says.
- BAC used Gold Apollo’s brand trademark for the pagers, but the design and manufacturing of the products was “entirely handled by BAC”, the Taiwanese company said.
- According to the company’s LinkedIn page, BAC Consulting “animates environmental, political, and development projects of broad scope and complexity”.
- The company website lists Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono as its CEO and founder and makes no reference to manufacturing.
- “We offer in-depth consulting guiding our client’s journey toward innovation, sustainability, and equity while ensuring connection, and authenticity. Our main services are business development, management consultancy, strategy and partnership planning,” Barsony-Arcidiacono states on her LinkedIn profile.
- According to BAC’s LinkedIn page, the company has two to 10 employees.
- According to Reuters, the stated address for BAC Consulting in Budapest is a peach building on a mostly residential street in an outer suburb, with the company name posted on its glass door on an A4 sheet of paper.
- Reuters spoke to an anonymous person in the building, who confirmed it as BAC Consulting’s registered address but said it did not have a physical presence there.
- BAC did not answer phone calls made by Al Jazeera.
Taiwan’s Economy Ministry to assist pagers’ manufacturer in investigation
Taiwan’s Economy Ministry has said it will continue to assist the manufacturer of the pagers used to attack Hezbollah members in Lebanon in the investigation.
The Taiwanese company Gold Apollo has said a company called “BAC” manufactured pagers used in the Lebanon blasts. The ministry said the manufacturer denied having a record of direct exports to Lebanon and that the pagers may have been modified after export.
It added that the batteries in the devices were of the ordinary “AAA” type.
Taiwan dragged into Middle East politics after deadly pager blasts
Taiwan’s crucial tech industry has been unwittingly drawn into Middle East politics after revelations that thousands of exploding pagers used to kill members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group were manufactured using the branding of a Taiwanese firm.
The firm, Gold Apollo, has denied that it had manufactured the AR-924 model pagers that exploded en masse in Lebanon, saying they had been made by a European company named BAC through a licensing deal,
But analysts said the incident raises uncomfortable questions for the island’s tech industry going forward.
“This incident will be a huge, critical lesson for the industry,” said Christy Chiang, a professor in tech law at National Taiwan Ocean University.
“The Taiwan tech industry used to think they are only manufacturers of hardware, so they have nothing to do with politics, they are doing their own business. But not any more.”
