"The components for Hezbollah's pagers were not produced by us," Taiwan's economy minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters on Friday. He added that a judicial investigation is already underway. "I want to unearth the truth, because Taiwan has never exported this particular pager model," Taiwan foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung said.

The president and founder of a Taiwanese pager company linked to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon was questioned by prosecutors late into the night on Thursday, then released.

Two people from Taiwanese companies were questioned as part of a probe into pagers that exploded while being used by Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, investigators said Friday, as top officials insisted the devices were not from the island.

China has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side over the matter, Zhang said. China on Wednesday announced steps against nine U.S. military-linked firms over U.S. weapon sales to Taiwan.