TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's economy minister reiterated on Friday (Oct. 1) that the IC (integrated circuit) trade secret disclosure request from the White House was voluntary in nature, and called for an end to individuals turning it into a political issue.

Rumors had surfaced that the world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC), was required to submit what is normally considered to be confidential information on sales, inventory status and clients to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Samsung and Intel reportedly ran into the same problem.

On Friday, the economy minister, Wang Mei-hua (王美花), assured the public that Taiwan's central government was notified about the matter a day after TSMC told one of its major shareholders — National Development Council of Taiwan (NDC) — the company will not disclose any confidential client information.

"We were also assured by American officials that there will be no leaks of the requested data," she said.

Wang explained the U.S. government is not targeting companies and urged the public not to interpret the move as politically motivated. She said the data submission request was made on a voluntary basis and TSMC has assured the head of the NDC, which oversees the country's sovereign wealth fund, that the company values all its customers and shareholders and will not cause them any damage.

"If there is a need for communication, we will assist," the minister noted.