Imperialism is a state seeking to maintain and/or extend power over other states. That is exactly what China is doing with Taiwan. Of course, unequal exchange is also a form of imperialism.

Imperialism is when you have a civil war.

That's just wrong. What is true though is that civil wars more often than not are influenced by foreign powers trying to influence them to their own benefit.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 days ago

All states influence other states. The point they brought up about "civil wars being imperialism" was said sarcastically.

Imperialism is where one nation financially dominates and plunders another. Conflict, bombing, coups, etc can all aid in this, but the fundemental baseline requires there to be plunder, not just influence.

Here's a decent article explaining imperialism.