If they successfully take Taiwan it would mean they are no longer contained by the eastern island chains. Kind of a break out of sorts. More on reddit.com

You're right that these small islands cannot be defended from military force. It is hard to read Chinese domestic politics. If China did this they would certainly spin it as some sort of victory to the domestic public. But my sense is that the general public are not idiots. So while there will be some small ultranationalist part of the population, this probably unsettles a rather larger portion. There will also be a reaction from Taiwan. A likely outcome being that the "status quo" population suddenly shifts to "pro independence". This would likely be bad news for the KMT who would then be forced into a choice of taking some sort of appeasement position (likely unpopular) or shift away from cooperation with China. In the most serious but unlikely scenario, this gives an opening for a pro independence referendum in Taiwan. The problem (likely for the Chinese) is this kind of overt offensive move to take territory opens the doors to all kinds of economic and diplomatic actions. Saying that you want to do something and actually doing it are very different things. There is a strong likelihood of potentially painful economic sanctions. Then, it puts the Western bloc countries in a situation where (worst case for China) the big countries repudiate their "One China" policy (as many countries have affirmed in the UN). Formal recognition by the EU and US that Taiwan is separate from China is a nightmare. But these countries would have a hard time arguing against this (morally/diplomatically) especially if Taiwan presents itself as a victim of aggression and has a broad popular mandate for independence. This move by China is risking a lot of pain for themselves in return for not very strategic gains. More on reddit.com

It’s entirely possible. The Chinese military has been preparing for this for decades, it’s one of the primary purposes for their existence at the moment. As difficult as it would be, as many factors that must be considered, as much damage and casualties as the PLA would take, it is very possible that they will try, and even that they will succeed. Taiwan is not an impenetrable fortress. It’s an objective that presents numerous tactical disadvantages for an attacking force, but that can be said about a myriad of objectives faced by militaries throughout history. It’s comforting for many to sit and talk about how they “could never do it”, or “we’d kick their asses if they tried”, but for those of us in the military, the ones who’d have to go out there and put warheads on foreheads if shit hit the fan, it’s a nightmare that we pray never becomes a reality. More on reddit.com

Mja, the only time I will regard it as likely is when Chinese investors start pulling most of their investments out of EuropeAnd U.S, because they have got a warning from Chinese leaders and they dont want to end up like the Russians who lost their assets. More on reddit.com