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。6 D& W% i1 \. T1 k1 _4 B2 B3 x
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$ c5 E8 \5 L6 A v9 K , T# g1 E4 ^9 Q* y 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。' W* r7 ~, A9 v& n9 c
" s) v/ F1 l1 v Z; U8 f 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。! ^0 G, \' q* W" v s! \5 p
0 ~5 G/ |" [) w( O+ w ) f! l) |% B! O0 \. h pJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. 3 c$ U! Z, b& h- a' }& r( H7 ~% p: K1 c# E* E; f* G, q- J8 v+ m ) l- [( R; c9 z( W" M/ O 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.$ |. e5 o- m( K5 o
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4 @# v( |0 \0 o ~3 ?' u" B4 S8 r + L+ c4 S) z5 ^) N) \0 { March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. d% _3 F" \5 H5 t5 u 6 e+ S" l8 f- \. S1 i0 L2 ? - K9 v6 F# [" ^* A; Z& x0 I' b: |% MThe Expat Exodus ; d2 e5 G2 p& M2 J/ e W1 H B
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. 4 w; D! i i8 q% C- B# F# s
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( @, d4 C3 o- J" @* S T& O8 O7 f / g n+ k0 @. ^3 [* n+ vEmigration $ t) T% ~0 B0 J$ sJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 4 B- m; F4 q5 K$ o0 X- K/ x* w M# L2 R7 E" Y* |. t& l( T 3 q( j8 t: `3 T* ^& v5 c 《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 b# y& d3 _: V9 {* i
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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。, T, |" |. E5 \1 {3 Y' t
$ L9 U. |: C1 m: w% q" S$ kThe People's Liberation Army 8 j+ q' M8 d$ c/ ^; V F5 u* YA 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. $ {+ A4 f# v! g9 \7 T% [1 Z2 _8 D7 c9 ~2 \9 {
7 H, \$ R, r( [ * p6 G9 j7 I! E- P/ Y0 z3 [4 C+ j5 \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. 6 E* s2 o( J! u" B" e
& @ }2 O! Q. \) M 4 r7 k# _9 B5 n3 ^ 1 O- u* D! K' { d# W# T+ S s9 uMilton 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. ' D$ _3 K: i+ b, x4 b# E
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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.0 `4 \: x0 {, o$ v) }
. E* f" z8 c8 J3 f4 k0 W $ g9 ^1 K; Y; C4 qHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. ) L; d7 l9 Z( r! C5 f, { ! M* x& C Z3 P5 `1 S3 ^" N! \ U; h, R * i1 H; M, P9 N! L. `0 `$ S2 k4 w
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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