Speaking at a gathering in front of the Executive Yuan, the meeting place for central government officials, Wang Shu-chuan, executive secretary of the Taiwan International Family Association and a handful of supporters chanted, "We are opposed to being treated differently and to the discriminatory policy regarding the coupons."

If foreign spouses work and pay taxes like any other Taiwanese, they should enjoy the same benefits, they contended.

The government aims to begin distributing consumption vouchers valued at NT$3,600 to each citizen on Jan. 18 or 19, in a bid to encourage spending and stimulate the economy before the Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan. 26.

Given that foreign spouses are required to live in Taiwan for at least five years, on average, before they can apply for a national identity card, Wang stressed that up to 282,000 foreign spouses could be excluded from the new program.

Until last week, foreign spouses had to provide a financial statement showing that their household has money or assets exceeding at least the equivalent of NT$420,000 before filing for a Taiwan identity card, which barred some low-income families from applying earlier for a Taiwan ID, she pointed out.

"Although the financial statement requirement (for naturalization applications) has been lifted, the government is again depriving foreign spouses of their rights," said Yang Jin, a Taiwanese citizen, whose Vietnamese spouse has been living in Taiwan for five years.

Excluding foreign spouses from the shopping voucher plan is "unfair," he added.

In response to protesters, Yang Cheng-ming, an executive officer at the Executive Yuan, said that the guidelines for the voucher program are still under discussion at the Ministry of the Interior and will be finalized soon, without further details.

As of September this year, there were around 409,000 foreign spouses living in Taiwan, including 270,000 people from China, according to the National Immigration Agency.