美国权威杂志《财富》（《Fortune》）于1995年一度预言，回归将令香港死亡。但回归十年后，最新出版的《时代》周刊，终在十三年后为此言论来了个迟来的大平反，不仅承认其姊妹杂志《财富》当年报道错误，更直认香港比从前更有活力。 W0 q2 O) }0 b) c9 w # }: m6 e: B/ G0 M; {: Z3 t 0 V& c. Y$ o: W \9 H J& Y0 {+ g3 q$ b# @5 k1 q2 x- t
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最新出版的《时代》周刊，以25页的篇幅探讨回归十年香港的变化，并以“阳光灿烂中见阴霾（Sunshine with Clouds）”为点题。对于《财富》杂志当年惊世的《香港之死》报道，《时代》坦诚认错，承认姊妹杂志完全是“错误地”及“差劣地”作出推测。《时代》解释香港过去十年经历金融风暴、禽流感、SARS、市民为基本法廿三条上街示威等……当世人以为香港贵为福地的气数已尽，香港却一一熬过来。 / S0 A/ e8 L: G% M9 } W/ Q% F' G2 Q 7 u6 ]; G/ C" D9 X4 y7 \$ |& V% ?
离回归十周年尚余三个星期，《时代》指出香港近期的股市屡创新高，物业格价亦稳步上扬，正值阳光灿烂时，不过晴空之中却有阴霾：香港前景仍受许多不明朗因素影响。6 y/ K- v! |' w4 u7 N
1 l) y9 y ^0 ~& e$ Q2 _0 S- N8 O$ f6 T2 k. ?9 q July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.% v" g4 _+ v6 R; m8 _3 M$ ]% K
. v1 u; H0 G T+ @+ v* Z 7 v( K4 X3 }$ t) j2 }1 W Feb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected. " i' N& Y9 b; {/ E- P* @) s% u ' c7 \* D1 h7 b* e " ~) k' W3 o3 T( {* E' r: I A( g. o* k. T March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. . u7 O* ]8 `( B% `) I$ M
5 `) I _# t; t; W7 C, t" K2 O: r) @+ W" K- b The Expat Exodus 1 J( A5 S+ \7 r; d% ? y
On July 1, 1997, as Hong Kong waved goodbye to its colonial rulers on board the HMS Britannia, pessimists predicted the city's expatriate professionals would follow. 1 g7 u9 i/ Z6 q" c! e- |. b
5 I' i P) Y: ~5 l + r, ^+ `1 H4 f) o7 m- R. R- e; I& S/ Q8 E; X1 D+ @" a. J Emigration ; }+ z# k* }( G4 Y" M
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. * I% U4 M; P. @9 ?+ `/ x2 v
; w$ U) k6 e( s1 A! A) f& o7 \ , `3 o/ ]6 k6 _2 O 《时代》分析，香港人仍在身份认同及定位上感到迷失。港人对祖国又敬又怕，进而希望争取民主独立，这种心态却令政策陷于胶着状态。保守派与民主派的对立，造成政治麻痹：上至经济下至污染的议题，双方都不愿妥协。9 H R( Z" l# N K! m
" Y. t" `- P9 K! q, P" e 《时代》称，港人在争取民主方面的想法过于“实际”。有权投票选行政长官的八百名选委，大部分来自商界，他们普遍认为普选特首会引入平民领导人、令香港变成福利社会；另一方面又怕惹怒中央，影响自身利益。' i# F% @; h* Y
9 J" E# `; g6 g) a- q' e 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
: |; N" E2 O$ iThe People's Liberation Army - g( j% M7 r' {- X0 P
A 1995 Fortune magazine article famously predicted the "Death of Hong Kong" following the handover, prophesying that PLA soldiers would be a visible, ominous presence on Hong Kong's streets. " c, L- u& X/ \$ i( C# j7 ?. m& p, o. @
* O3 \# ?2 _* x9 `! e2 Y# {' r* _ ) d2 ^) Q: \$ b2 F8 }Victoria Park. Queen's Pier. Stanley. While many symbols of British rule vanished overnight after the handover — teams of workmen removed the royal seal from post offices, police stations and institutions like the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club — Hong Kong's colonial place names endure. # h# d+ ^ x9 I % I: F7 t5 G$ M & c% T' t+ |; ^ T 7 J' b6 T2 v. d: e; i, ?Milton Friedman, the late Nobel Prize-winning economist, predicted that within two years of the handover China would introduce capital controls and replace the territory's currency. Wrong. . Y Q v- H( F1 W% r) A2 i
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With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. ( ~* l; F( j* h, `: p2 L1 Q D+ r7 ^) m6 C3 [4 m& N 3 X1 f6 s! ]! M) A# J" D t. z+ @Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. % l$ _! R/ ^1 q7 g/ v/ E6 ]
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+ \7 i/ [+ N2 k) M: H6 E: U + ^% R5 b: L1 b7 z+ H5 ]- \% D4 sContrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.
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