I'm surprised by the level of emotions Pelosi visit is generating here, but I guess it goes to show how important the Taiwan issue is to many here and on the mainland.
This is just an outsider observation.
I'm extremely confident behind all the public charades, the head of US military forces Mark Milley will talk to his counter Li Zuocheng (if that's him, I'm not entirely familiar) to ensure nothing major happens.
Mark Milley will even share with Li Pelosi's flight plan, path and time to make absolutely sure there's zero room for miscommunication between forces like he did when it came to Trump and nukes.
I mean he told Li, he will personally let him know if US was about to nuke China.
There are adults on both sides on the Pacific and they will stay up all night and day (time zone difference) to make sure this doesn't result in a hot conflict. Biden and Xi recent call was to make sure the adults were in charge. Now the underlings will make sure this dog and pony show Pelosi started doesn't get out of hand.
The biggest risk to all of this is what I termed early in my post about possible response from the PLA.
Grade 7: PLAAF launches intercept drills around ECS and North of Taiwan ADIZ at the exact moment Pelosi flight is heading towards Taiwan. Her flight path will originate from Japan and head towards north of Taiwan. I think this one is the most dangerous and might actually spark an incident.
US will scramble fighters if they think PLAAF is intending on intercepting her. It will certainly force her to cancel her trip but it might create a mini-skirmish or even a mock air battle between forces. This is the most risky scenario which is why I believe whatever PLA does, it will be
after Pelosi has landed in Taiwan and will continue after she leaves.
PLA won't act while she's in the air since that will be the most dangerous moment in all of this.
Looking at this holistic, it will be extremely idiotic if a war started over this especially when PLA hasn't even attained their full maturation in many critical areas (SSN, SSBN, 5th gen fighters, VLO bombers, CATOBAR carriers, etc) and China hasn't fully emerged economically. If ever in the future, it comes to war on Taiwan, China should assume it will be fighting not just US but Japan as well. US can't fight China without Japan so you know Japan will be a participant. PLA needs to be ready for both forces + Taiwan. It should also expect the backlash Russia has recieved economically which is why it needs to be ready to sustain its economy in some fashion at that time (access to resources and markets, etc).
It's like cooking. You don't eat while the food is still boiling on the stove. You finish preparing the meal and then serve it up neatly on a plate with drink and extras sides or snacks. Then you take a seat and enjoy.
China starting a war over this is like eating directing from the hot pot while it's still on the stove. It will be an inconvenient since the PLA dish is not done yet. You can taste it while it's still cooking which I guess will be like PLA showing the world some extreme snap drills like crossing the median line or launching ballistics near Taiwan.
Edit: You also have to understand Pelosi mindset. Old and frail, she's about to retire from her long corrupt-free (this is sarcasm) public service. She wants to put on her long resume as having visited the infamous Taiwan island while she was in office. This is more of a photo-shoot than anything. Imagine starting a war over this.