China’s military could isolate Taiwan, cripple its economy, and make the democratic island succumb to the will of Beijing’s ruling Communist Party without ever firing a shot, a prominent think tank warns.

＊cripple (n.)手臂殘廢者；瘸子，跛子 (vt.)使受傷致殘；嚴重損壞
＊succumb (vi.)屈服；病死
＊fire a shot
＊prominent (a.)著名的;重要的

翻譯：一間著名智庫警告，中國軍方可能會孤立台灣，削弱其經濟，使這個民主島嶼屈服於北京執政的共產黨的意志，不費一顆子彈。

Fears the Communist Party might make good on its promise to one day take control of Taiwan, by force if necessary, have been heightened in recent years by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s increasingly bellicose actions towards the self-ruled island.

＊bellicose (a.)好戰的

＊heightened (vt./vi.)（使）（尤指某種情緒或效果）增強，加強

翻譯：人們對於共產黨有朝一日將實現承諾，必要時以武力控制台灣的恐懼，近年來因為中國領導人習近平對這個自治島嶼增加的好戰行動而加劇。

China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only added to those fears.

＊refusal (n.)拒絕；回絕
＊condemn (vt.)（通常指出於道義而）譴責，指責

翻譯：中國拒絕譴責俄羅斯對烏克蘭的侵略更是加劇這些恐懼。

In such a scenario, analysts and military strategists have long focused on two key options available to China – a full-scale invasion or a military blockade.

＊blockade (n.)封鎖

翻譯：在這種情況下，分析家和軍事策略家長期關注兩個中國可行的關鍵選擇——全面侵略或軍事封鎖。

But a Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), warns there is a third way, one that will make it far harder for the United States and other like-minded democracies to counter: Quarantine.

＊like-minded (a.)意見相同的，想法一致的；興趣相投的

翻譯：但CCIS警告還有第三條路，將會使美國和其他意見相同的民主國家更難對付：隔離。

Using “gray zone” tactics – actions just below what might be considered acts of war – the China Coast Guard, its so-called maritime militia and various police and maritime safety agencies could initiate a full or partial quarantine of Taiwan,

possibly cutting off access to its ports and stopping vital supplies like energy from reaching the island’s 23 million people, a newly released report from CSIS says.

＊tactic (n.)策略，手法
＊maritime (a.)海運的；航海的；海事的
＊militia (n.)民兵組織;預備役部隊;國民衛隊
＊vital (a.)必不可少的；極其重要的

翻譯：一則CSIS新公佈的報告指出，使用灰色地帶的策略——只是低於可能被視作戰爭行為的動作——中國海岸警衛隊，所謂海事民兵組織及各種警察和海上安全機構可能將開始全部或部份對台灣的隔離，可能切斷到台灣港口的通道，並停止如能源等重要物資送達島上2300萬人民手上。