evidence: GREAT KINMEN ISLAND, Taiwan — From here, China feels palpably close. So does the memory of war. [...] Sitting outside his office, Xu marveled at the twist of history that turned his war-scarred island into the most pro-Beijing constituency in Taiwan. In many ways, Kinmen is a geographic and political outlier in Taiwan, a vibrant democracy that has generally voted to shift away from China's orbit. In other ways, it's a microcosm of Taiwan's existential and generational debates over China — and all the insoluble questions of politics and commerce, of culture and shared blood. [...] Since 2018, China has provided Kinmen with fresh drinking water through an undersea pipeline. Talks are underway for Kinmen to import two more crucial resources: electricity and natural gas. The Kinmen proposals have been applauded by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who has made absorbing Taiwan and reclaiming all of imperial China's lost territory, including Taiwan, a centerpiece of his national rejuvenation project.