The National Interest has an article by J. Michael Cole, a Sinologist, examining the likelihood that China will invade Taiwan. Cole concludes that China would have to basically make war on the U.S. and Japan in order to create enough battlefield "elbowroom" to make an amphibious landing on the island successful.
Cole believes what could encourage the Chinese to attack would be a belief in Beijing that either Taiwan or the U.S. has not the will to resist an attack. His subtext, not explicitly stated, may be that he fears our current President would not go to war to defend Taiwan.
Cole is emphatic in warning that both Taiwan and the U.S. need to be very much on record as ready to resist with force Taiwan's involuntary absorption into the P.R.C. I don't remember hearing this from U.S. spox recently.
