The Chinese Communist Party regards Taiwan as its territory despite the fact that it was never controlled by its army. It’s a characteristic for the red mentation.  The Soviet Union did the same even from the beginning of its official existence. This is a way of thinking for the totalitarian systems. They always need more space to live and they don’t care if other people have to be spoiled or even killed because the survival of their party is the only crucial  point in their propaganda. For them it’s also a question of prestige i.e. nobody can be an obstacle for them. Because it is a way to prove directly to all the others that they are powerful. But of course this is not sufficient for other real superpowers. Small countries are naturally targeted by the totalitarian systems especially when they are too close. Another target is the difference. Because if the regime is close to their ideology, it can be easily transformed as a satellite state with a muppet government. But real states refuse this kind of regression. That’s why they are targets for these systems.