Forget Taiwan, its Japan that China would love to settle scores with. I wonder how SK would feel given their own experiences with a militarized Japan. That’s probably one of the few things other East Asian states agree with China on.
Not to say they’d do that again today, but then again no one thought they’d do what they did when they first became a military power in the early 20th century. Still, it’s possible things ramp up for Japan given they’d also be a deterrent to Russia.
South Koreans Now Dislike China More Than They Dislike Japan
SK hates China. There’s a saying in Korea that goes roughly like this - Japan has been the enemy for 100s of years, China for 1000s of years.
American POV needs to be dropped when talking about other countries’ thousand years long beefs. Respectfully.