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 u9 k3 ?( ^* C- u; S' X' t ; v4 a2 h& B" j' Q; O5 |% t s; Z2 H6 s2 Q
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1 k$ L; c" `; C, M& 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。. e& G5 `% s$ X% i
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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。 8 S% R9 I& ]9 Z' d; b * b% v: `, b8 b: k2 E' F ' w9 i4 {0 }+ h f1 l ~. i, A July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. 0 N6 z* {* Q: M# N/ M # ~8 t2 Y" H; W# _; k0 v' w. C $ E5 ?- `; k! J3 UFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected. ' _( r$ P# d. A4 g 9 R* H& N7 z* ]. x8 b V3 E# [5 a& U3 J$ ^9 _1 K; r+ E) F 9 H2 S( g. J' p' u" NMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. ) f. h; T' V7 p' [, A0 j, r, N
2 f; u! ?, {8 [8 ?7 J; _8 a7 S5 n# U9 r The Expat Exodus + ? Z8 }+ V0 g4 j
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. . B6 \2 Q" l7 Y$ @! h; k % m8 p" u' H1 Y4 q4 f8 F / ^. }, b1 I3 p- R* l( q, f- F& W * m! T0 p' F6 Y' l1 G. ?Emigration * t3 r8 [4 g% }* W8 f, bJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. & Y% H- S; @9 h" H6 X" a( H6 D 3 K% y" h2 v6 Q# `$ ^4 p
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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。 " `% |2 i* @# Y4 V5 } N; n- W2 a2 F9 `# M
《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。 . C' ^) m8 p4 }+ O9 a4 c6 J % x! Y5 B7 a( Q* ]! @: z 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
5 u D& _- B3 N The People's Liberation Army - r# S* ~* O& ]3 K$ m. ?: q
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. 6 o3 \' g/ g0 O 7 s* s$ x# o6 S0 o- B5 m1 p: |" l; g$ @1 P 9 G, {7 w: z" m: t, ^
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. * F" z& {* r1 [6 V2 \) ?6 B, W0 K! m - r4 o v2 x+ X/ d8 g$ c3 c( i$ e/ J7 f " X' ]7 @7 U h( v
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. 8 r% s# Z. G3 R+ t( n . D! F5 c% |7 c6 X7 E6 @4 _" H$ n. {/ K6 A 2 G( z' x" d1 IWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. , b- y3 O0 Q' g5 b) r* }8 t5 d+ P! h" l2 j) Q4 a # n/ U) O2 Z" x5 U1 K0 b6 U5 EHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. + d* @4 v) y' k+ n- D
0 ]5 t5 I1 X5 i+ L- `7 P6 i7 A& h5 d* @0 F, d4 e + } I$ T2 q0 w( Q k5 }6 \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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