TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A doctor has launched a campaign against shortening the naturalization period for Chinese spouses to four years due to potential abuse of Taiwan’s health insurance system, reports said Wednesday (Feb. 28).

The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) said that allowing Chinese spouses to acquire a Taiwan ID after four years instead of the current six years would be one of its priorities for the new Legislative Yuan which was sworn in Feb. 1. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) said it agreed with the measure, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) questioned the timing during rising tension with China.

A doctor in Central Taiwan launched a petition against the KMT proposal based on financial concerns, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. Due to differences in the law, elderly parents of Chinese spouses could receive medical care during visits to Taiwan, the petition said.

As Chinese spouses amounted to 66.38% of all foreign spouses, the number of people who could benefit from the healthcare measure was huge and could have serious financial implications for Taiwan’s health insurance system, according to the petitioner. He also mentioned shortages of hospital staff as a factor.

Former DPP lawmaker Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said that spouses from China already benefited from more generous rules than other foreign spouses. They did not have to give up their Chinese citizenship when acquiring a Taiwanese ID, so their relatives received more rights than those of other foreign spouses, she said.