In an unusual turn of events, Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese tech company located in a quiet office park near Taipei, found itself at the center of global media attention following an attack in Lebanon. Pagers branded with the company’s logo were allegedly used in an explosion that killed nine people and injured 3,000, raising tensions in the Middle East.
On Tuesday, police and media swarmed the company’s offices after images of the exploded pagers surfaced, appearing to link Gold Apollo to the blasts targeting Hezbollah members. The company’s CEO and founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, quickly denied involvement, stating that a European company with rights to use Gold Apollo’s branding had manufactured the pagers in question. “This product was not ours,” Hsu said, stressing that the situation was both “embarrassing” and alarming for the company, which employs 40 people.
While media attention focused on Gold Apollo, its website went offline, and archived pages showed information about the controversial pager model, AR-924, described as having a “configurable, flexible design.”
Despite the firm’s denial, international scrutiny briefly turned to the small Taiwanese company before shifting toward Europe. As the media frenzy faded, a puzzled delivery driver arrived with a package for one of Gold Apollo’s employees, unaware of the intense events that had unfolded just hours before.
