The Cuban Missile Crisis is so different. It was between two equals, conventional weapons or nuclear weapons. And the Russians had pushed to the doorstep of the Americans. Between the USA and China, the US would have pushed China to a corner of its own frontyard, and China would not have enough weapons of any kinds to match what the US has (including something like Japan) to throw at it while keeping its own homeland at a perfectly safe distance. If China blinks, it would surely lose Taiwan and lose control of everything around it. So to sink any barged-in American carriers that have started shooting at anything Chinese would be the only choice before nuclear exchanges start…… or hopefully, before the Americans blink and therefore give a chance to the negotiation table... if China wants to maintain a deterrence at all. Of course, that's just from the point of view of an ordinary Chinese who happens to be educated in the US, the higher-ups might think differently.
People need to understand, today is not 1996 where China had nothing of much of a threat to use, and Taiwan wasn't so much on route to independence... And the Chinese people's opinions do have much more infuence on the government than before. Therefore, China, or shall I say, CCP, can no longer afford to allow others to decide its course of action regarding Taiwan.
