The "noise" as you call it always exists, it's always in the background, it fills local Chinese news. In that sense, nothing really changed. As far as China is concerned, Taiwan is 100% Chinese. You could flip it and say that they feel stronger, and that's why there's more external noise.
I would definitely agree that deteriorating economic situation leads to a higher probability of war. With the global macro trajectory of the past decade this become more and more likely, going hand in hand with sovereign defaults. This doesn't apply only to China.