epronovost
Well-Known Member
I think you are misreading the Chinese position on this. To my knowledge, the PRC has only ever made threatening gestures when it looked like the government of Taiwan might actually declare independence.
Contrary to popular belief in the US, the PRC and the ROC are actually rather close economically (Taiwan imports most of its goods from the PRC, and in turn invests most of its capital there) and maintain a lucrative and, arguably, mutually beneficial economic partnership that would almost certainly be endangered by both Taiwanese independence and Chinese annexation. That's arguably one reason why Trump's open support for the ROC government raised so much concern in the world of international diplomacy, as it was upsetting a relatively stable but ambiguous situation.
Not really no. The PRC has stated about a decade ago that Taiwan was a rebellious province and that its complete reunification was a central objective for the rejuvenation of the Chinese State. While the PRC and Taiwan were indeed happy with the status quo for decades, Xi Jinping has made reunification a central element of his foreign policy and development platform. It's in association with the claims to the East Chinese seas for fishing and commerce. Those claims rely on Taiwan being a PRC territory. This was prior to the arrival of Trump as a POTUS.