Taiwan and Bulgaria security bodies probe pager charges

Taiwan's national security team is "paying great attention" to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, the island's defence minister said, after a Taiwanese firm was linked to the pagers' production.

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.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said the government was closely watching developments.

"After the news came out, my understanding is that at present the relevant national security bodies are paying great attention to this," he said, without elaborating. Koo was speaking on Wednesday, in comments embargoed until Thursday.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, which has not claimed responsibility for the detonations that killed nine people. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October.

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.

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.

Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang, sitting next to Koo, said the public information from the company was that the pagers were not made by it.

When it came to international cooperation, Taiwan wanted the sort that helped maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait, he added.

"Not the kind that involves any possible provocative actions outside the region," Sun said.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Taiwan cabinet spokesperson Lee Hui-chih reiterated that pagers exported from the island "do not have a problem with exploding".