RE: Imminent since 1949.
Let’s not forget that in 1949, China was a poor, economically backward country with a rag tag military that just went through a devastating war with Japan and then a civil war with Chiang Kai Shek.
This time, it’s different. They are a military superpower with nukes and ballistic missiles.
The CCP nuking Taiwan gains them nothing. They want the place intact.
The Free Chinese nuking an invading fleet, and the offensive air bases in China as a self defense action would not reap the same scorn.