Actually while China has a large army it needs more amphibious ships then it has to get those troops to Taiwan. Taiwan largely a mountainous jungle with only a few viable beachheads that are heavily defended. Not having enough amphibious ships means China is limited to the number of troops it can land on those heavily defended beaches. Havening insufficient troops means their assaults' will probably fail as it stands now. China could always build more amphibious ships but with their economy in freefall it would mean tying up resources on ships that will not be needed after Taiwan. A long blockade means China will not have access to the high end chips TSMC produces for their electronic exports.
Just as Russia, on paper, looked like they would roll over Ukraine, China too falls shorts on what they actually need to seize Taiwan. Our actions towards Russia and Ukraine sends a message to China as to the consequences of military action towards a sovereign state. Better to spend billions defending Ukraine than to spend trillions fighting China...
“Just as Russia, on paper, looked like they would roll over Ukraine, China too falls shorts on what they actually need to seize Taiwan.”
Good point. Also important is that most of China’s military tech is Russian derived. Xi must be looking at how many Russian fighter jets have ended up scattered across Ukrainian fields and wondering about the quality of his own stuff.