I am going to propose a different reason for the “sudden” escalation by the CCP towards all threats be it Taiwan, India, Australia or the South China Sea.

Maybe the CCP realises it is running out of time. As a headline the Chinese population will go from 1.4 billion to 1 billion in 2100. The US population 330 million to 430 million by 2100.

Maybe they see they only have say a 10 year window to “solve” the Taiwan issue. That is some type of forced takeover in say 1-5 years, 10 years in the political doghouse, until western business interests finally overcome western national security and some type of normal resumes.

Any type of forced takeover after that time will only led to a prolonged isolation. As China’s declining demographics visible to all, say in 20 years mean there is little opportunity for western business to get growth there. The driver to normalise relations will be gone.

Just a thought.