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。/ `" r+ |1 ^) D4 p6 F% V; ]
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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。, y3 Z' f& N6 X' B- `! }/ u& ]
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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。4 l% s/ u$ g# n [0 G% J
( d4 Z- i4 J+ a - f0 M! S; i" q) B! p6 q8 dJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.4 m9 G3 A: S. E* k1 Y
. K0 x ^! N! n- J* O; g8 [! F: B, \6 O: }( G' h 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. # d5 ^# g l* Y( w6 V; c; o! s3 [* Z
, h0 N, |! l& A% _3 u" x " t+ ^/ H& [9 Y& x, \March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. & z# P$ y; ]2 ]/ z5 F# g( f- ~6 Y/ D0 R9 W% l : `1 }( R: s6 m; x The Expat Exodus . Y3 C/ g' m# z7 \
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. ; E q% K" t8 t5 k; d& p W
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, _3 S6 @7 ~% C5 h& G' }& f" z4 v) N : `5 x* v! J- L8 I$ u4 K Emigration 1 I# A$ n6 u6 \/ L1 WJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. * F' Y0 r1 P" l1 P- q3 m . }# j0 i% D: S: B) k0 q
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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。! @$ }. e/ b4 _9 J/ y
; R/ {7 u9 O9 K& k% `3 u$ b' n9 S9 z. U 《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。' `* h6 b. b2 P" r- z8 L6 R
" O% V% H2 ?2 B! e3 n: Z T 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
+ O+ P: @- W! P* \ W# c The People's Liberation Army ) d7 N' g4 B0 s; v! ]
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 w4 h( s3 T# D3 U K* z) F9 G2 v7 T" F2 `6 R5 @0 k
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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. + m! }* s! D+ Y& }# `- u
. b2 |7 T1 j: _4 c6 b' k+ p6 p# e1 {9 ~ U$ G0 e! N1 F, ~! u, }) rMilton 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. 5 h% C, b9 c0 O4 w) ^& j8 ]0 g4 V& [ `: k: p9 U( _
, Y; n( [% m+ n+ M& y2 T% Q 3 c$ M$ N5 I; u# C* i4 _With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.; s0 X9 Z* o5 A( ~9 f' q( I6 m
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Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 6 w. e/ w. f* r" f6 u6 A2 u ) ~& h* A, q- d) k2 j% ^& @ E ' m6 U; E w' F. Y" K1 k ! P& M) ]" u! _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.
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