1. Seize all Chinese and Taiwanese foreign currency reserves - that's $3.7 Trillion gone in a poof.
2. Seize all Chinese and Taiwanese investment in the U.S - another several trillion in a poof.
3. Start a global trade war, and Europe would also join in, locking China out of exporting to the western democracies or participation in the dollar system. All those nations that owe debts to china because of Belt and Road? Those can't be paid, as they are transacted in dollars, and China can't touch a dollar now. From now on, China has to trade via a barter system with Russia.
China is already hated due to blowing off the CO2 targets, then throw in an unprovoked invasion and occupation of a democratic state -- the Europeans eat that stuff up.
Meanwhile, what does China get? A population of 23 million people that hate it. A destroyed economy in which 40% of its GDP vanishes overnight. Loss of all foreign currency reserves and an inability to purchase the energy and food that it needs.
Remember China is not even able to feed itself without dollars. Yes, the US will have a shortage of cheap TVs and it will hurt our supply chain, but we can migrate that supply chain to vietnam, Brazil, India, Mexico, etc. We have the rest of the world to keep outsourcing jobs to. China would have only Russia. Moreover China needs foreign coal, oil, soybeans, and pork in mass quantities every single year.
Absolutely none of that requires that even a single shot be fired. It would be ludicrous to engage in a shooting war with China.
No gains whatsoever. Other than proving that US is an obsolete paper tiger that is incapable of defending its allies and its overseas strategic interests. Note to the whole of SE Asia, including SK and Japan.
Trillions of dollars gone in a poof: World, it's past time to move to a more stable currency.
The British Empire failed to hold the Suez Canal in 1956. The Americans stood at ready to blow the UK fleet to smithereens and closed the deal by threatening a run on the British pound. In the aftermath, US raised to the role of global superpower and UK was relegated to the has-been rubbish pile. There is a distinct possibility that China may just walk into Taiwan with no open US opposition. Or they may think they can.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_integrate...
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-has-cornered-the-mar...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2657873/Uncovered...
"Taiwan under Qing rule refers to the rule of the Qing dynasty over Formosa (coastal areas of modern-day Taiwan[1]) from 1683 to 1895."
Japan is the only country that ruled Taiwan with an iron fist and put in infrastructure education law and order etc.
So no china didn’t rule over Taiwan.
Which is not even remotely close to what happened in Taiwan. Taiwan didn’t get to decide if it wanted to be a Provence. In 1887 other than some settlements on the west coast the majority of Taiwan was not under the rule of anyone and didn’t like the Chinese being there.
Fast forward to 2021 and the majority of Taiwan do not want to be part of china.
Also I’m not American, I’m from New Zealand and live in Taiwan.
We just lost two wars to the local populations who simply wanted us gone. I fail to see how we could win a war against a peer in conventional military strength with our supply chains already in tatters.