Taiwan comments on its security exchange with Israel following attack on Hezbollah

WORLD, Sept. 19 (YPA) – Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has denied receiving any information ahead of Lebanon’s exploding pager attack.

The defense minister Wellington Koo, asked whether Israel had given Taiwan a heads-up about the explosions or whether the two had security or intelligence exchanges, said Taipei did not have that kind of a relationship with the country.

Koo added that Taiwan’s national security agencies are closely monitoring the issue and that relevant departments need to conduct investigations, emphasizing that the government is “watching developments closely.”

During the same press conference, Taiwan’s defense spokesperson Sun Li-fang stressed that regarding international cooperation, Taipei seeks collaboration that helps maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait, “not cooperation that involves any potential provocative actions outside the region.”

Israel, like most countries, does not have formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but the two maintain de facto embassies and have close, though unofficial, ties.

Taipei moved quickly to condemn the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants, which triggered the Gaza war, and offered Taiwan’s strong support and sympathy to Israel.

Israel’s envoy in Taipei said last year that Taiwan had been a “good friend” whose support Israel has appreciated, but China’s response to the Oct. 7 attack has been “disturbing”.

Taiwan-based Gold Apollo said it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that they were made by a Budapest-based company which has a licence to use its brand.

Hungarian authorities, in turn, refuted these claims, stating that the communication devices delivered to Lebanon were not supplied from Hungary and that the company is merely a “trading intermediary” with no manufacturing sites in the country.

@E.Y.M