Taiwan was formed after a civil war.  They believe themselves to be independent.  Enough to break off from China.

America has paid reparations to those effected by its past,

China is currently engaging in the activities in the present.

As for the banking system, I have no issue with them.

Stop embarrassing your lack of Chinese history.

The KMT fled to Taiwan after loosing the Chinese Civil War.  At the time of KMT's defeat, Taipei became the de-facto capital, of the officially recognized government of CHINA, not an independent Taiwan.  The government in Beijing was later recognized, as the official government of China, once the rest of the World realized that the cause of KMT was over.  Throughout the rest of the 20th century, the KMT still maintained that they were the rightful government of CHINA.

The pipedreams, of an independent Taiwan, was created and primarily fueled, by US imperial policy, in the region to contain China.  Nothing more, nothing less.

All they need to do is officially declare themselves independent again and they will be.  But that doesn't change the fact they are defacto independent.  Similar to getting married vs BF/GF long term with mortgages and kids.

If that was all they needed, why did they not do so already?

Could it be that the US empire themselves, do not want Taiwan to be independent, for fear they loose their bargaining chip, in China-US business negotiations?

No if they did China would go to war with them to officially take them back.  It's a pride thing.

From Biden’s speech to Congress:
This is what he said, according to a New York Times transcript of the president’s remarks: "The United States accounts, as all of you know, for less than 15 percent of carbon emissions. The rest of the world accounts for 85 percent. That’s why I kept my commitment to rejoin the Paris Accord, because if we do everything perfectly, it’s not going to matter."

The reunification of Taiwan with the Chinese Mainland is purely an internal legal matter.

It is already a foregone conclusion. Their new generation of hypersonic missiles makes our bases in the area sitting ducks. I would be very worried if I knew someone stationed on a base in Okinawa. China could smoke that whole place in seconds and there is nothing we could do about it besides nukes (game over for everyone). The USA no longer has enough resources for conventional warfare. Our military is handicapped by bad tech that was designed to send money to Congressional districts, not fight wars. Now we are even losing to small countries with no conventional military. We outsourced our industrial base and 34% of the population currently relies on government spending for survival, and that will not last once the dollar gets replaced as the world reserve currency.

Stop these fever dreams of empire while there is still time to consolidate what we have left and learn live within our means. Pushing forward means the end of the Republic.

We have the same weapons if not better, we can destroy their bases too.  Didn't sports teach you to never give up.  Or parents to never submit to a bully?

The only real bully on this planet is the US empire and its delusional ambitions.

We may have lost to Afghanistan but we definitely have what it takes to beat Mainland China

So what will China do about Taiwan? China could take it right now, if it wanted to pay the price. Everyone knows that, though many fake-news sites have responded with childish, ridiculous gung-ho stories about how “Taiwan Could Win.”

But will China invade? No. Not right now anyway. It doesn’t need to. The Chinese elite has its own constituencies, like all other polities (including “totalitarian” ones), and has to answer to them as circumstances change.

So far China has been extraordinarily patient, a lot more patient than we’d be if China was promising to fight to the death for, say, Long Island. But that can change. Because, as I never tire of repeating, the enemy of the moment has constituencies too. And has to answer to them.

So what happens if the US succeeds in hamstringing China’s economy? Welp, what’s the most reliable distraction a gov’t can find when it wants to unite a hard-pressed population against some distant enemy?

That’s when China might actually do something about Taiwan. Oh, not the silly 20th c. style invasion the USN dreams about. That’s nonsense. The PLA has contingency planners too, and they won’t want to play those retro games. There’s a whole new military technology and an evolving strategy to optimize it, and it includes dozens of ways to neutralize carrier battle groups. Planning that campaign is probably the most requested assignment among ambitious PLA planners.

And that’s how this looks, when you stare coldly: If our military and media elites are very lucky, China will zoom ahead and ignore the endless woofing. But if US/NATO somehow succeed in crippling China’s economy, then, as Mao might put it, the flabby Golden Retriever woofing behind its picket fence at the pit bull might find that the yard gate is open.

We have no focus in Afghanistan, against an enemy with no uniform.  Much different than a standing army or navy.  Destroy all of china's equipment and you win.  You will never win a land war.

You think a war between two nuclear armed peers will stay conventional?