I think China has red lines that could force them to start a war the same as happened with Russia and Ukraine. For example, if US starts putting missiles in Taiwan that can hit major cities in China, that would likely be one such red line. That said, China has no interest in starting a war because they know that the power balance is shifting in their favor in the long run.
It is mostly projecting. If we put a nato base there China might put up a fight to keep us from doing that. It is unclear if that would come in thr form of a mysterious fire that burns down the tragic resources, trade sanctions thst would actually cripple the us economy
China will reunify with Taiwan, that will probably require an invasion. Don't make the same mistake many people made with respect to Ukraine. It could be decades away, but it will happen.