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。, q ^7 W* J1 o
: X" M: J% o0 r- i " I2 u2 L# i9 w2 X- [$ |" g 7 Z" s0 z6 [! W 8 T* n, ?, V3 i" T" m1 s 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。 & Y o* }: M" i* Y0 R" d) ~ : D( d+ n% c& \8 N5 W" m% L
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。 0 V0 M9 l& ~) O% |2 K * c6 {( e3 ^8 e! m' ~, s & m4 ] [3 P' p7 K3 w: GJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. 2 \* U2 z( _, f0 v5 g' I ( t, h& h" O' Z/ D9 p6 l8 Y) \% j7 D8 y 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. # |3 M* O8 H3 |4 m& ~) ^4 J" k r4 G4 E8 f
, o$ v( [2 o- `3 q7 U; B. O6 i3 |; J March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. / @3 y C4 v V; l* W* o3 b/ X7 A 7 J& i. u2 h1 D3 h0 }* v$ KThe Expat Exodus " Y" `$ @/ P( p" N
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. $ x- a9 h$ P; @7 `
: v6 m- P3 C2 I4 M( Z* V) Z 9 p7 a% ^) F; V; `. U8 ~% C; n' n 3 }7 n+ r# g' e6 F7 {8 ^5 iEmigration . \1 y$ J; Y/ D$ FJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. / x. ~- I; l7 C8 B7 L' J1 D( x
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2 }# v# l) C& \3 ^. f 《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 M/ r8 D- |+ R6 o5 s" x7 J & v; T/ G! a, ]
《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。 ( r& U" J! H. Y& s6 r- V 9 T3 |. @0 P$ Z! m0 @ 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
. S, m3 n& h0 J3 AThe People's Liberation Army & V9 `9 S1 p- k3 o
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. , e6 A9 \9 B9 X' A% @ # ~, X6 V! R* s/ F! D5 U5 b* r! e O$ M& W. O4 U8 r: e0 `2 z5 t. G# `& }+ h
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. - E/ S6 p6 D) n8 O( s7 X. W% m i* H: m! v O7 c: ~
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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. 0 l L: T2 X0 W( U. M
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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.& O6 \5 @5 O5 w1 d
% y" w; M9 V6 t6 ^* u$ F 5 O. [1 c$ D4 rHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. ^7 U. {, N1 w( ?) `
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]1 C' v! E2 R$ [8 w0 [ 7 d6 M# y. i# bContrary 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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