Calling Xi's bluff.

Van der Wees' assertions are themselves undercut by Taiwan's own adherence to the "One China Principal"—which entails reunification—by which Taiwan belongs to China, but with the implicit question remaining of what is China, meaning who controls China, the People's Republic of China (PRC) or the Republic of China (ROC). The question has been moot ever since the Communist takeover of China and their control of the PRC.

According to the Election Study Center, National Chengchi University, 28.2 percent of the Taiwanese polled favor keeping the increasingly unstable status quo and postponing a decision. 27.5 percent supported maintaining the status quo indefinitely; 25.8 percent supported the status quo with a move toward independence; 5.9 percent supported the status quo with a move toward unification; 5.7 percent gave no response; 5.6 percent supported independence as soon as possible; and 1.5 percent supported unification as soon as possible.

I think van der Wees' argument is from the independence side of the issue which accounts for about 25% of those polled.

Taiwan's understanding of the "One China Principle" is interesting. But it's a relatively recent, post WWII, position. The Chinese Nationalists, under Chiang Kai-shek, moved the national government to Taiwan after being defeated by the PLA, and many of the Western countries held that it was the legitimate government of China a decade or two. But my point is that Formosa wasn't considered part of the historical Chinese Empire, and native Taiwanese were culturally distinct from mainland Chinese. The poll you cited indicates that less than 10% of the Taiwanese actually support unification. I think that's even lower than the percentage of Ukrainians who would choose to be part of Russia. Give people self-determination – no more "empires".

China is a lying, cheating dictatorship that claims ownership of a peaceful, democratic neighbor (yes, I know the history) and constantly tries to intimidate them with shows of force. This isn't the only thing they've claimed that isn't theirs, for example, their man made island in international waters in the South China Sea. They understand nothing but strength. You back down from them and they'll be back to push harder and further. Any show of solidarity with Taiwan is all to the good.