The thought of Chinese killing Chinese - whether they're from
Taipei or Chengdu - is really quite horrifying.
I know this happens all the time and all people have no qualms
about killing people of the same race and even the same
country.
But I really hope it doesn't come to that. Things like that are
really nasty and take a damn long time to heal.
There are so many Taiwanese in China esp Shanghai it is quite
difficult to think of the two as being separate.
A lot of young Chinese would make jokes about "liberating" Taiwan
sometimes in front of Taiwanese associates but hope it remains a
joke.
Still, I gather enough to feel that underneath, most Chinese are
quite ready to go to war with Taiwan as they start to feel China is
invincible. And they are also spoiling for a fight with the US as
they can't stand the US arrogance.
Of the Taiwanese I've met, some are pro-independent and some are
actually keen to be re-unified with China for reasons of culture
and history and also practicality. They are sick of Taiwan's grey
position in the world as being the "illegitimate" China. And also
they feel Taiwan can become stronger as part of China than to
remain a little independent island.