Are you suggesting that in the case US deploys tactical nukes on Taiwan, China should automatically escalate to a regional nuclear fight or a global nuclear fight (i.e. nukes targeting US mainland)?
If it is the former, China loses since Taiwan would be nuked (either by China via retaliation, or US via nuclear mines), unless you agree with Coalescence's idea that this trade-off is acceptable for reunification.
If it is the latter, which many in this thread seem to agree, then the US unilaterally changed the Taiwan reunification into a Taiwan hostage for global nuclear war. The replies I've seen seem to suggest the US won't do this since it may not be in their favour, but I don't think the PLA rules this scenario out. Hence the PLA might wait until China achieves nuclear parity with the US before attempting to reunify with Taiwan.
I think you take the credibility and legitimacy of the CCP too seriously regarding the Taiwan problem. The US has escalated countless times via salami slicing and I've yet to see China launch a military operation. I think there is a good chance if such a scenario happened today China would not launch a military operation, but rather use diplomacy to get US to back down. China doesn't want the US to mess up China's own plans.
I cannot tell if you are genuinely this naive or just trolling.
There is a fundamental difference between annoying but ultimately pointless salami slicing provocations and utterly trashing the biggest red line there is.
The whole point of salami slicing is to pick stupid idiotic things so petty and small that it would be too ridiculous to start an actual war over, because newsflash, the US is in no shape or position to start a hot war with China on China’s doorstep.
If America places nukes on Taiwan, that means war and even the most brainwashed westerner will know who is responsible.
Any use of such nukes will be seen as a nuclear first strike by the US against China and China will respond with nukes in turn.
The whole point of nuclear blackmail is to try to blackmail China into backing down without using nukes. Because once nukes start flying between nuclear armed states, its almost inevitable that it will lead to full global MAD. If America didn’t believe that and/or just wanted to nuke China, it could just launch a full first strike if it was that stupid and wanted to roll the dice. Putting nukes on Taiwan adds nothing for America and instead looses them a huge amount.
To be honest, putting nukes on Taiwan is just about the most moronic thing the US can do right now. Because doing so gives China the perfect bullet proof reason it needs for full armed reunification that most Americans themselves will agree with if they were honest with themselves.
It also gives China so many easy low hanging fruit to pick to massively weaken America’s position without needing to fire a single shot.
For starters, China can use the deployment of nukes on Taiwan as evidence that America cannot be trusted with what it does and keeps in its military bases in Asia and a simple announcement will be made - all US bases in the world are hereby assumed to be hosting nukes and as such subject to Chinese retaliatory nuclear second strike should a mushroom cloud ever go up. See how quickly America’s global military bases network disappears. Especially in Asia.
Secondly, this development gives China tools and options it would have never before expected to have. Namely, the luxury of time to mount a total naval and air blockade under the pretext of stopping more US nukes coming in.
Nothing goes in or out of Taiwan. Anymore that tries to breach the blockage will be intercepted and detained or shot down if they fail to comply.
In the meantime, China will hit America with full sanctions up to and including ending all trade to give corporate and ordinary America a little taster what war with China actually will mean to their personal way of life immediately and for the foreseeable future.
All of that will materially weaken both America and Taiwan’s willingness and ability to fight China without needing to fire a single shot; and it will only end with the total and unconditional surrender of the Taiwan regime and with the PLA physically taking control of every military facility on Taiwan to ensure the nuclear threat is neutralised.
Congratulations comrade, you just handed China the best of all worlds result in the form of peaceful reunification but without needing Beijing to make any compromises on post reunification governance.
