What type of knife is the most appropriate for cutting squash raw meat that doesn’t have bones, heavy Chinese cleaver (cai dao) or sash

My answer is “Neither.”
Now for the explanation … your question entails two completely different types of mediums whereby squash, to include both hard and soft hide versions is almost as different a medium to process by cutting as one can get from raw meat (typically refrigerated, not frozen or partially frozen)
If all you have is the choice between the Chinese cleaver and sashimi, then in both cases the Chinese cleaver would work better as the go-to. However, if you’re looking to buy something that will be the most versatile cutting tool in your kitchen, I would strongly suggest getting what I call the “poor Asian cleaver” … and that title is not disparaging in any way, it’s meant to describe what I consider to be likely the most versatile kitchen tool anyone can own. The background on this is that poor Asians are frugal by necessity in using what they have available and they use it remarkably well. This shows not only in their very unique and totally awesome cooking skills, but also in their food preparation tools.
One major problem is that common cleavers are really improperly named and identified as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, etc. when in fact they’re all pretty much the same design and don’t hold to any of the actual historical customs of the places they’re identified with. I recently did an image search and counted over 80 different cleaver designs claiming to be “Chinese” yet all but two of them are complete fantasy creations and the remaining two are only representative of the Shanghai region. China is absolutely huge and extremely diverse where claiming that Shanghai represents “Chinese” is like claiming that Milwaukee represents all of the North American continent.
The Xinjiang province culture is exceedingly different than the Tibet province culture as is the Ningxia culture and most every other province. Just because it’s all under the country of “China” doesn’t mean it’s all the same just like Milwaukee isn’t the same culture as Allentown or Miami or Boise despite they’re all being in the USA. Likewise, there is extreme difference in the cultures of Korea, Vietnam, Thai, Laos, etc. The only common link is the “poor Asians”, just like the poor in every culture, adapt to using what they have and hone their skills around that. What emerged are the most excellent general purpose cleaver-knife design and the wok.
The poor Asian cleaver is typically forged from discarded metal, most prized are spring steels from automobiles and machinery. These cleavers are not the common heavy-weights, but are instead thin in cross section making them light and highly maneuverable. When combined with the proper handle angle and blade arc, the only serious competition to this design comes from the true Inuit culture ulu … which happens to be the third most versatile cutting tool anyone can own with the Colombian Llanos culture machete being the second.
I grew up doing construction in the fair weather months and come fall it was butchering and canning season which meant processing vast volumes of meat and vegetables. When I turned 18 I joined the US Navy and became exposed to cultural things I’d never even heard of, let alone seen. I learned as much as I could from everyone I met along the way. Over the decades of learning, I’d come to find out that my cutting tools were seriously lacking because of cultural repression. Thinking back I can only wonder how much time could have been saved processing hogs and cattle if I’d have had an ulu instead of the knife that was common to the Penn-Dutch culture. How much faster and easier processing Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage and animal quarters would have been if I’d have had a poor Asian cleaver. Oh, and how an ulu would have made chopping garlic and onions so much easier and less labor intensive.
So here’s my list of cutting tools everyone should have and learn to use to their maximum potential:
1. Poor Asian cleaver
2. Colombian Llanos machete
3. True Inuit ulu
4. Penn-Dutch meat boning knife
5. 18th century longhunter’s knife
For all the cutting gadgets on the market, those five will fill every cutting need you will ever come across in life from general home kitchen work to fancy-schmancy drizzle chef work to rural farm and trekker work. The biggest problems are finding suitable tools which are made correctly from carbon steel (never stainless).
MarkKw

Wanbasion Black Stainless Steel Knife Set, Sharp Kitchen Knife