The PRC is "only threatening" to invade Taiwan? By "only threatening" you mean by regularly sending war planes into Taiwan's Air Identification Defense Zone[1][2]? Do you really believe the line between "only threatening" and provoking is wide enough to not be of any concern? Also it's curious you left out the whole Uyghur Xinjiang internment camps thing out of your comparison between US and the PRC.
I consider the threat of violence to be violence, so I'm with you, China commits aggressive offenses against Taiwan by threatening anexation. But, a significant nit I have to pick is that China doesn't violate Taiwanese airspace. Doing that could be an act of war and may get a plane shot down. They enter Taiwan's ADIZ, which span Taiwanese airspace, over international waters and even covers about 2/3 of China's Fujian province. ADIZ isn't airspace. It's just the zone that Taiwan monitors.
I'm not sure how you define threaten, but I think that firing missiles over the island during election season (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis) definitely counts as a threatening act. China has made so many threats about taking back Taiwan by force that I don't know how anybody could miss it. It's one thing to think that ROC is part of PRC (it's not), but it's another level of stubbornness to think that Taiwan is not threatened by Mainland China.
USA regularly threatens military action against Taiwan. China has made it very clear they don’t have any intention to invade. They also don’t have a recent history of invading.
I guess the optics here depends on the sources you’re following. If you only read one side you can get to rather silly conclusions.
I disagree to the threat on the American mainland. A Chinese assault on Taiwan would have to be an all out invasion against a standing army of 170,000[1]. Plus I count about 6 million citizens of capable fighting age, Taiwanese batteries at the ocean[2], plus the eyes-in-the-sky of Japan, Australia, America, India, and quite possibly Vietnam. To invade you would need at least a million, possibly more. If the USA etc. saw that kind of preparation and launch, all hell would break loose. China doesn't have to just worry about a street by street battle for Taiwan, while the media rains holy hell in High Definition TV. Not many will just sit by, and it won't be a quick victory, nor do I expect India and Vietnam to not take a shot or two at a Chinese frigate.
All that to say, that's a lot of money, death, destruction, and for what? China is a capitalist country now, and they really like the money flowing in. An invasion of Taiwan could disrupt the spigot and cause another Tiananmen Square.
Do you think it is more likely that China will invade Taiwan (unprovoked) or US will invade China (unprovoked)? This is a bold post to assume the latter (#2). You seem to imply that US is waiting for a good opportunity to invade Mainland China. (Are you serious, or do I misunderstand? China is a recognised nuclear power. Invasion is almost literally impossible for these countries.)
It's a much different threat, however. As I've covered in other threads, CCP action against Taiwan will result in an actual war which may or may not involve the U.S. and to an unknown degree.
I'm not sure the fact that it's been going on for years makes it any less serious. It's an act of intimidation that is designed to drain the defense budget of Taiwan ([1]) while desensitizing and normalizing these incursions into Taiwanese air space. The carrots that the CCP are offering aren't very appetizing, but the way that they are wielding this massive sledgehammer of a stick forces Taiwan to stay at the negotiation table. There is nothing like what is happening there anywhere else in the world right now. There is a reason that they have spent billions of dollars on air defenses, they are rightfully terrified. China has made their intentions clear, they own Taiwan and they will bring them back into the fold one way or another.
Most commentators obsession with China possibly invading Taiwan is flabbergasting. How many countries has China invaded over the course of say the last 200 years and how many the US? Violating Taiwan's airspace from mainland China is fairly easy as due to their geographic proximity both countries airspaces actually overlap in places. Just a question on how the media paints the picture.
the only actual threat i see is its claims on the south china sea.
the rest of what china is doing is consistent -> "mind your own business".
yes. maybe somebody should clear up whether taiwan is part of china or vice versa. maybe this is like south china sea too. they think because they've been using it like their backyard pool for 4000 yrs its actually theirs.
but it certainly didn't do syria, libya, iraq, afghanistan, crimea.
They have been threatening the island by flying military aircraft across the Taiwan air defense almost daily for the past year and have now surrounded the island and fired missiles over the island in a show of intimidation. What definition of "threatening" are you using?
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61642217
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58794094
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