An independent Taiwan is nothing of the sort.
The PRC could have adopted a much more diplomatic and friendly approach - think EU-esque. Instead of this dipshit woLf wArRioR crap, the PRC could have taken the more mature and measured approach, and worked towards making a strong industrial, geopolitical, and economic alliance with Taiwan.
Hell, if they just accepted that the slow and steady approach was probably going to work better than the “I’m going to have a tantrum” approach in general, they’d probably be doing way better in a whole slew of areas. They could have essentially created a de facto alliance with Taiwan over shared culture, language, and history… but no, Xi wants to prove how big his dick is I guess.
I’d say both sides gain more from the rest of the world with this conflict. China still gets Taiwanese-produced chips and Chinese companies work with Taiwanese companies. Taiwan gets to resist integration into PRC, which would eventually happen with such an alliance. China gets to threaten the rest of the world with a crisis.
Western support for Taiwan, and establishing indispensable parts of its supply lines there, is mainly about maintaining a strategically important chokehold on China’s maritime traffic and keep their imperial ambitiins bottled up. The Taiwanese cheap labour was just a little cherry on too.
