Peaceful reunification really only has a chance when China is so overwhelmingly powerful that no country including the US can even credibly pretend that they will fight China over Taiwan. When China has grown to that capacity, then we will see some real prospects of China unifying Taiwan without bloodshed. Before then, there are no prospects of peaceful reunification and it's not a failure in anything; the power dynamic isn't ripe for that move yet. If China needed a reunification now, it would have to do so by war. At best, the conflict will be a brief and effective decapitation of Taipei's forces followed by a blitzkrieg-like invasion and Taipei's surrender after little blood spilled; at worst, it could spiral into a bloody and prolonged conflict involving the US with no appealing endgame in sight and global sanctions on China. Quite frankly, I think this is worth it if it is the only way to unite. However, it is only a backup option if a better option were given and that is that China can push this event into the future where China has displaced the US as the premier power of the world and it gives an ultimatum to Taipei. The US complains but clearly dares not intervene and a sensible Taiwanese leader decides to avoid the bloodshed and pain of an unwinnable war on his people and accepts the ultimatum with promises from the CCP that they will be treated well and the daily lives of the Taiwanese will not be significantly changed. If this doesn't happen in my life, I'm ok with it because it is much better for millions of other Chinese lives across both sides of the strait. I'm not so selfish that I wish to sacrifice their all lives just so I would have an excuse to thump my chest and throw the biggest party in drunken scientist history.
