> You are also missing the part where the Taiwanese have always held an ambiguous stance towards reunification/independence.

You are also missing the part where the ambiguous stance is mostly a consequence of China's threat of immediate violence if independence is ever declared. Taiwanese support for reunification is under 15% or so - and even lower among Taiwanese who were born in Taiwan. Why would they, when their living standards are way higher than China's and they live a free country?

Nonsense. The only reason why some Taiwanese do not want _formal_ independence now is because China is threating with war.

If China would allow a referendum in Taiwan (accepting any outcome peacefully), there would be 90%+ majority for independence.

Actual survey results are a bit more mixed: https://esc.nccu.edu.tw/PageDoc/Detail?fid=7805&id=6962 Support for moving towards independence has clearly increased a lot since 2018, but many people still haven't made up their minds yet.

That is because formal independence - as used in this survey - means a considerable risk of war with China. It is no surprise that people hesitate going to war when the current status quo is somewhat ok.

This might have been true 10 or even 5 years ago but certainly isn't anymore.