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。 % `: b/ H: t3 q6 v' r# s+ K 6 W* q' F& [5 ]4 | G3 t2 s - y3 N$ j0 r8 \4 x( ` h7 d 6 e% D( V! q: B/ `. e$ Z: r * t! u3 G# x5 u& L 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! b9 e1 Z# S0 n5 u; x% ` ( H6 D) u. l/ D4 I( C, A 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。6 z& |+ }2 Q# B L. R. |# P
! i4 n/ Z" L1 a/ _# E: I . N0 @1 z! J# R0 X' vJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. 2 M( o1 G/ U" l, `' t! @7 K. ` ' `- o. T5 |+ f7 ^8 b# u5 j% T. f : y2 n$ ^3 k2 F0 T8 n3 V3 Z% K' IFeb. 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$ `" T' B9 y: c' U6 l, T7 h8 l6 a9 P/ v
Q. v: f' P9 ^2 q6 R " u7 O# ?" \3 q; b) t3 P) L March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 8 Q4 i: \8 G& t* s$ t, i; c; S ( |2 a8 R* H7 C1 d! f5 q 9 O. ^% _1 ]) C+ M8 ~9 _- pThe Expat Exodus 5 P. G$ C* B+ A
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. " d- B" g- }9 ~ 5 _4 f% t Y3 o, r1 j, P& Z
1 l" s1 C; p( H3 M$ w' s ' B: h: v: X( J+ O/ K' R Emigration / i% R$ I# b! [4 Y# E2 r$ w$ NJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. `' C3 t3 H, {6 _1 x Y$ @& C9 E! G. _& c3 |
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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。! {9 ~+ f$ c5 Y; |# i
6 w/ A+ ~0 D$ P% c7 r 《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。2 A5 e5 [' B7 f1 t1 u
3 x" q% ?6 e/ d4 G8 A The People's Liberation Army 1 T! G+ G( X. \' Z3 _- g; n
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. 7 L, p# e X1 U, q. f ' Z7 S% B, |, T " f' t" x6 }0 _+ S8 T$ y* g1 |- Q$ V, g3 d
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. 0 }1 [8 Z/ i' b6 I2 i1 D ! E" ~' Z8 z4 r/ ?) N4 ]+ ]' V, l, d* Y4 }# E: I/ n , l, W5 @7 l, z; d8 k* L
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. , e( K+ E6 E% I1 `7 V) Z, S4 ^% [5 F( P# n
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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. , l! X- b0 v9 R5 V0 v; a/ v0 g: X8 ^$ H9 S, W- m 4 H$ l+ `' p3 |4 q' G. U hHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. . M+ [0 P0 F9 U `; x
0 `( y; i5 K( P( f0 h6 C( S( c* v, T1 \ 0 J/ _5 m# p: w' f4 s! |/ qContrary 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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