5 U9 h5 Y6 v3 K5 d$ h: f- | 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。 % m+ ~, F, ]( v5 W6 N0 B1 m 2 J( q* B: s/ \6 t1 D `! n
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。9 q+ e7 k7 K7 n
2 Y `6 f4 o. R9 ]5 ^& n# I- u6 C0 E July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.: c* O% \* U8 T3 l* G
; |+ f. v8 t% B9 a* D1 G & m% y* S2 r" @7 P6 X" h5 bFeb. 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 x, n7 {& V* ~" c Z n
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9 D4 c3 ?+ {3 Y# J ' I0 Y: Q1 @6 c* s March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 6 y* C! B* {5 H
$ ~; W' X, { S/ k1 W; L 5 s) J% V' O4 I9 i8 d The Expat Exodus ; \* K+ e A+ |* g+ k; [* bOn 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. 3 G9 J% w8 c: k5 s7 L8 `, u
Q+ P* r2 m( I6 v: A. A4 W * z8 }1 H7 v, e( i, f* D: ]5 g. g" Z, G9 [ Emigration 7 f3 ~6 Z; z! L$ b3 oJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. / x+ ?- i, y7 r6 I) U, l
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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。 / y- o/ |* D. D, K * o6 E; t% v/ O3 p
《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。& t2 E- ^0 {7 c2 N
4 `( U: @, B; j1 ]The People's Liberation Army $ G7 w% r+ ~& h, h# G
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. 8 F, i S. c0 ]4 r2 k5 h1 Y5 p
4 ~( ?) o$ H; H; } V' t2 |# f; _ * _' L c" {+ T% ]4 [% ~/ P. sVictoria 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. $ k i- f8 D- v6 M& a8 f' }
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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. ' M& V, i8 J# p/ z% M7 ~5 O
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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.% I3 v) h+ ^* Y. n, o- h; m4 |
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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. 8 v& ]5 D% w" p8 Y. q9 x7 a* f4 f- e1 B; ?
2 {* e. ` I( B/ m; t" j8 n5 z: M1 b. {3 C1 n , \0 f2 d: j+ D0 f" w: ` mContrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.