Pretty much, being politically captured by US and turned into a vassal doesn’t make people of Taiwan any more free than being reunited with China. In fact, I’d argue that there is every chance that the mainland government in China would care more about them than the US would.

I’m not Taiwanese, but I have met more than twenty in my life and made good friends with them, and zero of them wanted to rejoin China and were fine being a vassal state. They see themselves as their own country with their own distinct culture, so they appreciate the US presence and protection, even if that comes at a cost.