To paraphrase LBJ - We should not send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Taiwanese boys ought to be doing for themselves.
Taiwan should be quite capable of making China suffer greatly if it tries to swallow Taiwan. The question is - do Taiwan’s own people love their democracy and de facto independence enough to do what it takes?
I don’t want any American troops there but i sure would like them to have access to American muscle equipment wise.
Yes the Taiwanese would die to save their country. I spend quite a bit of time over there as wife is from there. I have spoke with several military people and they are ready and willing. The first thing they would do is take out the Three Gorges dam which china screamed about when they were told that. That alone would put a major hurt on china.
Reading between the lines I think china wants Taiwans’ money more than anything. If you follow history china actually belongs to Taiwan.