A series of military maneuvers and ballistic missile tests were conducted near the northern shore of Taiwan, a clear example of sabre-rattling by the Chinese. The two Chinas have improved relations in recent years, with Taiwan assisting mainland China in economic affairs and each allowing people to move between the two states. However, China does not want to allow Taiwan to continue to exist as a de facto independent entity forever. The Communists never actually recognized Taiwan as an independent state, and modern China certainly wants the modern technology and industrial capacity which Taiwan now possesses. China is rapidly modernizing its armed forces, which are still crudely equipped by Western standards.
China appears to be on an expansionist course no matter what the rest of the world thinks of it.
Pressure from the outside to change their foreign or domestic policies will only cause them to be even more resolute in their actions, but appeasement of the regime is definitely not acceptable. We are just going to have to wait until China moves toward a more democratic government, and help move it toward that end with some quiet diplomacy. Public posturing and criticism will do no good, a lesson the Clinton administration and its successors had better learn soon. China's growing middle class will not put up with a repressive regime forever. As the population becomes wealthier and better educated, they will demand more and more freedoms, and the government will either adapt or crumble.