How many mainland Chinese people are willing to use violence against Taiwan, even kill, for the sake of unification?

The military is always looking at the prospect of war, in order to justify the money spent in them. This is true almost anywhere. For the common mainstream Chinese, I think it will be this way. If it stays the way it is, we will try to use economic and other peaceful ways to convince them to be reunited to us. If they declared independence, we will use embargo to pressure them to give up this idea. If they declared independence with some kind of military support, well, what do you think will happen? This is what I observed, could be biased.

It would be crazy, it would destroy everything, almost nobody wants it. But that was true in Europe before WW1 too.

You mean actually enlisted in the army, train like hell for 6 months, ship to a war zone with a rifle and face the real danger of getting killed on the battlefield? No one is willing to do that for any ideology now, unless their own safety is being threatened. I think you confused internet ranting with real conviction. People say crazy things all the time online, under the protection of anonymity. People say crazy stuff when they're drunk, whey they talking shit with friends, when they know there's virtually no consequences of their words. If I were to believe youtube comments, I'd probably under the impression the world is going to end tomorrow, and everyone is hating everyone. That's hardly the true picture of our society. So relax and enjoy life. No one is killing anyone for the sake of anything.

Generally in mainland China, no one talks about unification through violence seriously because: 1.      Taiwanese form an integral part of Chinese society – through business ties and family ties. Taiwanese are very entrepreneurial people. They are one of the first groups of foreign businesses who trusted and capitalised on Deng Xiaoping’s ‘opening up’ policy. Today Taiwanese firms employ a huge number of employees in mainland China. Although there are certain negative connotations towards Taiwanese’s way of doing business - they are often branded ‘stingy/strict’, I think it is more of an unfortunate consequence of Taiwanese being the first to introduce western/Japanese influenced business concept to China. Other than that, there is very little racism towards Taiwanese since both sides still share a lot of common interest and culture, unlike North Korea Vs South Korea. It is also worth noting that before Chinese economy starts to take off in the 90s, mainlanders often see Taiwanese relatives as wealthy Santa-Clause figures. Taiwanese have been sending money/gifts non-stop to their mainland relatives since the end of the war. Receiving a color TV back in the days would grant you huge bragging rights amongst your neighbours as white goods were one of the few ways of showing off your wealth and connection (houses were free then).  This charity was not limited to coastal provinces close to Taiwan either as KMT took a vast demography of Chinese to the island in 1949. So Taiwanese don’t really have much PR issue across China. 2.      Chinese understands the limit of their military power. While the PLA undoubtedly has the means and the money to sail cross the Taiwan Strait, they still need the blessing of the Seventh Fleet before boarding their landing crafts. Good luck with that. 3.      Economy. History has proven that Chinese are very practical people – unlike Baghdad, the Mongolians didn’t find a reason to stomp flat Peking. There is a lot of money to be made across the strait, as long as KMT (pro-China ‘Blue camp’) keeps a lid on the fanatics of DPP (pro-independence ‘Green camp’) there really is little reason to start talking about unification through violence. However, like any country, there are a percentage of the Chinese population whose nationalist emotions are easily stirred by propaganda. They typically sail from an under-privileged class or are currently going through puberty – neither group is likely to influence decision making bodies in the Zhong Nan Hai.

Taiwanese share the same blood with us. It's no reason we want to point a gun at them, just for a poltical end. Personlly, though, as a mainlander, I was taught "One China, two systems" for years, I don't care about the systems at all, in deep mind. Taiwanese are kind and ordinary people. I hope that they can live happily and peacefully. Most of Chinese people hope peace. As for governments, you know, hard to say.

There is a saying in mainland, 看热闹的不怕事儿大, numb bystanders are not scared about the wrost consequences.So, on internet, nitizens exaggerate things as much as they can to draw as much attention as they want, if you talk to them face to face then ask them would they risk being shot on the battlefield to get things done, they probably say no. So you probably shouldn't classify this group as useful statistical samples.Most people I ever talked about TW with are expecting a peaceful reunification under the policy of "one country, two systems". "不战而曲人之兵，善之善者也", getting the win without firing a single bullet is the best strategy, nobody wants their father, brother, son die on the battlefield even for can't be more right reasons.Almost 100% Chinese stand against being involved in any kind wars happened on foreign soil especially in Middle East, but in the case of TW, most of the mainlanders see it as a loose end of civil war.Maybe I just didn't talk to enough people.

It is 21st century now, nobody wants to fight a war, especially in China. Even if you wouldn't lost your life, or your relatives, your friends, the economy would be affected badly, Chinese economic burgeoning might be disrupted ever since, our living will definitely be impacted strongly. But still, we have to maintain an army, to defence the national lands, to deal with emergent incidents, like any another countries. Sometimes, war is imposed to you, sometimes you can choose if you would participate in a war or not. I think if there are  options, according to Chinese sentiment and social atmosphere nowadays,  most Chinese arn't going to choose a war.  Actually, the two sides of the strait have done and are doing their best to avoid using force, there was no fire exchange anymore ever since 1980s. To completely end up the civil war between the strait, the political negotiation is the key.