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。 9 }: F1 I3 I4 p/ M8 I : T- a$ A5 ?; ]; q6 V8 f2 ~ 4 `4 C1 a% U4 ?+ P B3 u- u6 L ! ]; ?; V' M9 A# s- _3 ~) X 7 f$ v4 f# n( Q; v* }3 g 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。 8 x. O; D' Q4 t & X0 \. B5 j/ \$ p) ^8 m# m
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。 - k: Q3 T$ o) h% `$ A ; ^3 {7 P( X) U n0 N# k8 n & J$ X" y8 M% h% W7 |( tJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. 6 s" Z: z9 s& I5 d . ?3 K1 b' x# t9 D8 `! L( u5 G* {4 i7 [6 Z) z: \) m 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./ K+ _6 C3 Y! b4 r8 J9 u
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! ~, e7 W$ }" l d5 _) o3 p0 ]' D4 o March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 1 v: m% G' b" l2 U2 [1 v
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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. * |% a: C( q9 q4 c & S; u& W7 A7 C, N& A
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Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. , @1 i: ^- O& @4 S8 n' q& [2 t7 a
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《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。& O8 w0 G. k7 t' {" u$ ]
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《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。/ K+ i1 L- R, ?
! Q4 ^+ t2 V* S6 Z0 N 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
2 }; T! C$ U% M6 d1 a0 [The People's Liberation Army 0 ~4 M2 ^0 U$ [9 R; C/ o8 W
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. 9 w( I+ d0 b: [. }# D, U% F% o6 w. y1 P8 S: N, Y
. d. d+ U9 G7 X% P8 P4 X, F9 ^ # [3 {6 L, p+ Z/ FVictoria 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. ( D% d6 H0 U2 @. ^8 H
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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. & {- i$ {' }% z6 ?: ?
! y+ _9 s5 f* J( @' E. {6 P4 q 2 ?7 g4 j0 V0 U8 M % w4 `% ~3 E: hWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. 3 O7 E8 b z0 I9 U4 y+ S: |3 J& i: F 6 V; A$ f, s0 {: hHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 4 o) ~2 L+ X' v" W
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Contrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.