TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese spouses should take an oath of allegiance and an examination before being allowed to become naturalized Taiwanese, reports said Tuesday (March 12).

The Kuomintang (KMT) named allowing Chinese spouses to acquire a Taiwanese ID after four years instead of the current six years as one of its priorities for the current legislative session. However, critics said the change would lead to more abuse of Taiwan’s health insurance system.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) proposed that the naturalization procedure for spouses from China should also include an examination and an oath of allegiance to Taiwan. In this case, amending the Nationality Act would be necessary, Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said.

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) told lawmakers that the changes might be difficult due to the different treatment of Chinese and other foreign spouses, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. If the two categories of spouses were to receive equal treatment, each side would find positive and negative changes, he said.

Lin expressed his approval of the oath of allegiance proposal. Several countries, including the United States, Canada, and Singapore, also require an oath in their naturalization process, he said.