If the Chinese are willing to take the risk and take Taiwan by force, there is no better time than right now. The big unannswerd question is will the Taiwan governmet, its military and people put up a stout defense and fight for their freedom. If they do the cost to China may be too high for the CCP to bear.
They PRC is betting that they can bully Taiwan into accepting the PRC’s dominion.
They have isolated Taiwan - most countries won’t even admit that Taiwan is a country.
Also, their most potent potential ally (us) has just been humiliated and is at low ebb in its military power thanks peacetime idiocy.
If they can convince Taiwan that they are truly alone and lack the strength to stop an invasion by the PLA, they they might knuckle under.
...the cost to China may be too much for the CCP to bear.
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Sorry to disagree but China is a Communist country which means they don’t give a damn about what it costs in lives to defeat Taiwan.
China has 2.2 million active military personnel and 1.2 million in reserve. Taiwan has 165 thousand active personnel and 1.65 million in reserve. Without substancial support from the US (and Japan and Australia) China would overwhelm Taiwan through sheer numbers of personnel and materials.
Biden and the DOD have demonstrated weakness and it may be enough to convince China the USA is a paper tiger.
Yes the Taiwan people will fight tooth and nail. Unfortunately the average citizen there is unarmed and untrained for firearm use. I have talked personally with some of the military I have met. They will fight to the death and are well trained.