The race to run Taiwan's Kinmen islands is filling up, and every candidate is selling closer ties with mainland China — a sign the front-line county wants trade and calm, not confrontation.

• Four candidates registered on the same day: KMT lawmaker Chen Yu-chen, former deputy magistrate Li Wen-liang, artist Huang Shih-tuan, and businessman Chang Kuo-wei.
• Chen is running on elder care, housing for medical staff, a new Taiwan-Kinmen ferry, and using the Kinmen liquor company to open mainland sales channels for local farm and fish products.
• Li is pitching Kinmen as a "star of the strait" hub between the two sides, with plans for transport, health, schools, and tourism.
• A split on the KMT side looms: former magistrate Yang Cheng-wu had his team pick up registration papers and is expected to enter the race, though party headquarters is still trying to broker a deal.

Outlook: Whether the party can stop Yang from running as a rival will decide if the KMT vote splits in a county it normally wins easily.