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。& V( o6 `. V4 ]* `% k' |/ Q7 L8 t
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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。4 d$ w$ P. j7 b; o. B
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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。& Y# O3 v+ ^# }; F" i
9 S& X Y% v2 }6 O, q L' j " R0 m2 h0 Y m# n July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong." O1 }. @! E: W' ^% [
! c- T6 f0 n" B+ W j5 T: c" J: D6 X$ Y9 I, Z8 o! F# w 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. + a9 W' h: ]3 `$ N) F 8 c8 e* ~4 N0 V7 H, o7 ~+ b, T4 C) d& G( Q; c - U! t2 a" H8 k: B: g# RMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. - ]3 d: B- k; S9 {4 m& O! L
% r" w- {. O5 h8 L, T! q/ Z3 |2 }# x0 h+ x" \" j4 ^' u& { The Expat Exodus L* ?' ~- N1 j0 p3 k" z7 T4 XOn 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. 1 @! m, T, J ]7 }0 r) o( }$ d , b l! ~$ {" {" M
' W8 R: q: L' R - @- E, k: S1 y) I) ~/ a2 ]Emigration 9 [2 g: s% l/ z9 R, d5 ~& S9 G
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 9 l. S1 e, V8 ?+ } 1 Q! J9 t" R( 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。 # q3 m6 b& ]4 \/ s1 }- } : V7 {5 v6 ?& \4 d 《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。/ l0 ?$ W9 o/ c/ H+ `
2 v! J/ U: Q: @2 h/ [, B 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
4 Y, V# _9 h/ P( A% K The People's Liberation Army ! K+ [: }7 R. B& {- e; I& 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. % X/ x2 o! A9 ~1 E3 p9 v
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5 z, `# e6 }1 q; T + E" z$ P( z" }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. - k8 h# m) i( ^ P+ a5 Z$ ]- j" Z
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& e4 o% d/ a9 V 2 Y; X/ s' l/ m! ?; qMilton 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. / M0 d& g8 ]7 N6 l8 L+ c
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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. 2 d& R$ }- O$ {0 _ 7 X. P. W& E7 J* @! i( ^' `5 c' I: U; o7 G- w+ Q
Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. + r4 O4 m1 N% c$ r3 F+ A
0 Y4 T) W: k, d; M- m j0 A+ b9 c& E( s, Q 4 L5 R8 c3 K7 \4 D: Q- G% XContrary 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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