Not shifted; it’s both.
We can’t stop China from taking Taiwan or obliterating it. Either would happen before we could gather enough of a response to make a difference and avoid getting a lot of men and hardware shredded.
Once we gather forces to project power, then yes, we could take it back. Yes, we could beat the Chinese military down. Eventually. We’re talking years of massive conflict costing trillions of dollars. We’ll have no good forward operating bases for the vast majority of it. We’re talking pure naval based power projection against a modern interdiction focused fleet and an air force and land based SAM and anti-ship missile forces full of stolen western technology and purchased Russian technology.
And all along the way, we’re risking the fight going nuclear. Either nuclear in the local theatre (e.g. China uses tactical nuclear torpedoes and/or cruise missiles to take out carriers) or even possibly full scorched Earth strategic nuclear launch. The former is unlikely, but certainly a possibility if China thinks they can cripple our military response and avoid a full-scale nuclear war. The latter is extremely unlikely, but far moreso than without a military conflict at all.
So yes, China can take Taiwan before we can do anything about it. And we can take Taiwan back (it’ll be smoldering ruins without a living thing on it by the time we do), but that cost would be so far beyond what we’re willing to pay. So we might huff and puff, but we will not engage the Chinese in direct military conflict. Not gonna happen. Not unless Chinese troops start landing at Virginia Beach. President Trump will find other ways to hurt them. Biden? He’d probably apologize to them and ask where the bathroom is.
You and I do not share this opinion.
I believe you to be be inflating Chinese capability while underestimating our own.
If China could take Taiwan, they would have already done so.
But they cannot.