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。 # s5 j! D( w. m4 x( ? 2 L/ h6 M# \9 R! i3 I( `3 J0 M) _8 @; m3 u3 \4 v; w0 {9 g
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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。 ; D. @6 x. t! b& T * O4 f: V4 H4 L% _
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 k. {3 B) |( v
9 G* H' A9 n0 @& Q5 }/ `% f# ^0 k5 P0 _ July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. 8 D$ m- f/ G2 [1 b, t2 D( L, ~% T) y: a 4 ]) `! E0 |1 r6 b d/ dFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.: Q; L# f5 L( [- l' I6 b1 u
' F) o9 r$ E9 p3 @# S3 {) K- q8 i # m$ {) B( b5 H( a # X) t. B3 S/ v3 I# Y. oMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 9 X* B! y/ O {* g6 m
\+ ]5 l2 _ R. L) P2 r " y+ i& K& x, U0 k The Expat Exodus ( x$ [: i7 w n3 f# h! b# O
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 F0 Y A9 Z* R0 {
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Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. " O" l0 m$ O/ p+ P/ J 9 `5 t! O7 O/ f8 t5 P& ~ \4 d, ? 2 C$ ]0 I! S4 Y# E" W, l 《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。* u7 `: \+ ?+ u3 G# W5 {% j
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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。 " I6 V: e2 ^: K: }' Q0 \6 W/ Q 9 {; r1 h J8 v5 v) ?( {" a作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
) l# L6 U, b3 TThe People's Liberation Army # \, b& A/ g: W
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. S7 U1 i8 c/ i3 K
3 a# g" Z& R- { A! z, }+ r" j, } ( a3 U' v! v* x8 l ' @& a& b' K! a, I( e) x6 UVictoria 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. 1 L* M- [" i# p0 o0 B5 C : q! y. J& w# Y+ e3 k$ @! v1 T" _1 A" N) x4 C, R; d8 b+ I ( B( e8 M: X" s* t) lMilton 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. 9 g# f% {1 k3 {/ s% Y2 J: J
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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.4 x9 f. m3 j: p+ M% r, ?
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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. . h t6 w9 a) _, O& h$ r3 z9 l
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5 ?4 g% O4 X: m; t3 f1 y5 \& W o0 \ 0 {6 Y% S2 [* n& y8 j) n! C- ZContrary 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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