In my view, vouvoyering is not enough. Far better to go on to monsieur et madame, which applies another diaphanous layer of style.

The thaw began in 2001, when Kinmen opened transportation and trade links with the mainland. Since then, roughly 20 million Chinese tourists have streamed in from southern Fujian province, where the language, food and bowed swallowtail roofs on traditional homes are all recognizable on Kinmen. Until the 22-minute ferry rides were stopped during the coronavirus outbreak, Kinmenese made countless trips the other way for weekly shopping or visits to ancestral homes and temples. Those trips are welcomed — and assiduously courted — by Communist Party-linked liaison groups. . . . But peel back the jockeying among political parties, the talk of war or subjugation, and what remains is what many Kinmenese say is a basic fact: They simply don't feel Taiwanese. . . . When DPP leaders visit, Wang and her peers who voted for Tsai ask them to pay more attention to Kinmen, to promote investment that could lure young Taiwanese to settle there or young Kinmenese to move back.

Such souls can with assistance rise to better things, but it is a very arduous task and for the most part they remain rejoicers in evil.

The Treasurer obliged himself to expiate the injury.