BREAKING NEWS: THE FBI and western intelligence agencies had a long history of ordering pagers and/ or walkie-talkies from Gold Apollo of Taiwan, it was revealed yesterday.
The company in New Taipei City made customized communications devices for western intelligence groups for years, according to an unearthed 13-year-old business report.
Before this revelation, the search for the makers of the pager and walkie-talkie bombs used in a devastating Israeli attack on people in Lebanon had moved to a pair of intelligence-linked companies in Europe – but both turned out to be shell companies.
Now, a re-discovered 2011 article in the Chinese language CommonWealth Magazine switches the focus back to Taiwan.
GLOBAL OUTRAGE
The 2011 business profile says that pagers and walkie-talkies may seem "to be antiques", but were actually still being made in large numbers by manufacturer Gold Apollo on the island of Taiwan.
After global outrage over the planting of bombs in pagers and walkie-talkies last week, Gold Apollo staff denied complicity and said they had licenced one of their brands to a western company, BAC Consulting of Hungary.
But that group had no factory, and turned out to be an Israeli intelligence-run front company which also dealt with a Bulgarian firm called Norta Global, the New York Times reported.
Now, the unearthing of the 2011 report moves the discussion back to New Taipei City in Taiwan.
CUSTOMIZED WALKIE-TALKIES
"Gold Apollo sells a walkie-talkie that is almost extinct in Taiwan, but its professional technology, customization and strict quality control have won orders from European and American governments, making it number one in the United States and the second largest in Europe," the 2011 CommonWealth Magazine report said.
The company in Taiwan specializes in pagers and "customized walkie-talkies", the article continued. Customers include intelligence groups in various countries, the report said. "The demand is mainly concentrated in intelligence, firefighting, national defense and other units in Europe and the United States."
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is a customer. "The FBI ordered a text-type walkie-talkie," said the report, based on interviews with the company's staff. It says of the FBI order: "The technical requirements of this product are not high, but the security confidentiality requirements are extremely strict."
The small company outsources key parts of the production chain to others. Gold Apollo "is responsible for receiving orders, and designing and purchasing raw materials", and also "production and assembly outsourcing", the article added.
GOVERNMENT FOUND 'NO RECORDS'
Taiwan's Ministry of Economy last week said they found no records indicating that the company had directly exported goods to Lebanon. But the statement said nothing about indirect supply chains, which is how most goods move from the island.
Taiwan is legally recognized as part of China, but is presently managed by an increasingly unpopular Washington-aligned political party.
Senior staff at Gold Apollo last week portrayed the company as a victim of a scam and threatened to take out a lawsuit.
But the revelation that there is a long history of people in Taiwan making customized pagers and walkie-talkies for western intelligence groups will potentially change the narrative.
by Nury Vittachi
Lai See(利是)
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
London just dropped a classic good news, bad news bombshell on Hong Kong BNO holders.
The headline grabber? The path to permanent residency remains a five-year trek—the so-called "5+1" deal is safe. But here is the kicker: to actually cross the finish line, applicants must now survive a gauntlet of "extra spicy" new conditions. We are talking tougher English tests, strict income floors, and proof of continuous tax payments.
Think of it as a mouthful of sugar followed by a shot of hot chili. The anxiety on the ground is palpable. The South China Morning Post cites a survey warning that nearly 30 percent of these migrants do not meet the new bar. Unless London blinks, thousands will be screened out at the doorstep, leaving them empty-handed after five wasted years. Agitated Hong Kong people in UK are scrambling with petitions, but make no mistake: for the British government, utility is the only metric that matters.
Survey Warning: 30% of Hong Kong BNO holders fall short of London's new "permanent residence" rules and face being screened out at the finish line.
Here is the bait-and-switch: getting the visa was easy, but staying is going to cost you. Previously, income checks were nonexistent. Now, the rules have tightened: you need a fixed job, a tax record, and an annual haul of at least £12,570 (HK$128,000) for three to five years. That might sound low, but for many Hong Kong BNO holders, it is a high wall to climb. Not everyone is punching the clock in a full-time gig.
The SCMP-cited survey breaks it down. Of the 690 interviewed: 19 percent are housewives, 8 percent are retirees, and 3 percent are students. That is 30 percent of the total population right there. No job, no income, no tax record. If the Home Office sticks to the letter of the law, this entire group is going to fail the assessment cold.
Even the working class is standing on shaky ground. The data shows that only 42 percent of respondents have full-time jobs, while another 20 percent are scraping by with part-time work. Do the math: stable, salaried Hong Kong BNO holders are not the majority. Many are hustling in "casual work," where income fluctuates wildly and often falls short of the new government mandates.
Speak to anyone on the ground, and they will tell you the housewife trap is real. Families move over with young kids, find they can’t hire help, and suddenly the mother is housebound. It is a forced choice. Even if they pick up part-time shifts to help make ends meet, those meager earnings inevitably miss the strict income targets London has set.
The Wealth Illusion
Then there are the cash-rich, income-poor migrants. These are the folks who sold their Hong Kong properties at the peak, sitting on millions of dollars to fund a quiet life in the UK. Some are retired; others just don’t need to work. They are slowly "pinching" their savings to get by. But under these new rules, their wealth is irrelevant. No employment income means no tax record. And no tax record means they are not getting past the gatekeepers.
Smart professionals are also about to get caught in their own loop. I know of Hong Kong BNO holders who aren't unemployed—they are just working "on the sly," taking remote gigs from Hong Kong to dodge UK taxes. It used to be a clever way to save a buck. Now, it is a liability. Without a UK tax footprint or local employment record, they have technically earned nothing in the eyes of the Home Office. When application time comes, they are going to face big trouble.
The education gap is another ticking time bomb. The survey reveals that 16 percent of respondents only have a secondary education. Let’s be realistic: hitting the B2 English level—roughly A-Level standard—is a pipe dream for this demographic. This single hurdle is going to cull a significant herd of applicants before they even get started.
The Language Barrier: With 16% of surveyed migrants holding only secondary education, the "B2 barrier" for English proficiency is set to trigger a wave of failures.
Panic is setting in as families realize they might be kicked out at the last minute. Distressed and confused, Hong Kong BNO holders are mobilizing. A petition demanding the government lower the bar—keeping the easier B1 English requirement and scrapping the income test—has already gathered 28,000 signatures. They are even planning a protest march for December 6.
Utility Over Humanity
London, sensing the rising heat, offered a vague olive branch yesterday. Officials claim the consultation is not yet finalized and teased a potential transitional arrangement. But do not hold your breath—nobody bothered to explain what that transition actually looks like.
Let’s call this what it is: habitual duplicity. When the chips are down, the British government puts utility first. A sharp analysis in Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao hit the nail on the head: by piling on these conditions, London is downgrading the BNO route from a special humanitarian channel to a high-threshold, ordinary immigration path. It has morphed into a policy demanding economic tribute, not a sanctuary.
The writing is on the wall. Don't expect them to lower the bar for permanent residence. Smart Hong Kong people should know better than to have high expectations.
Lai Ting-yiu
