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。' q/ _+ W) B* Q: p
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7 v5 _( Z0 @+ s* e2 T% K5 n0 m2 M $ @( \5 ~3 ~3 A5 k" B" B, n+ F 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。( c# i: a& n2 D4 J' d9 E2 S7 P" y
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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。' e. H: s! ~. Q/ @' z# U V
1 V3 n/ `8 v B- J3 k3 d : b6 ?( B0 u% D2 m, v# uJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.! K% U' }' N4 O7 s m- |
E6 U* e9 R# B+ k) i& }8 q % [- ]" N2 M# H3 D# e- O% h$ jFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.* Z* e' \! B$ q+ D; x& h! H, _
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7 O& ^& A! W* \1 j6 K) R- F 6 w) |2 n5 i8 v% o7 G# jMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 9 p" v9 v7 p& G8 j2 O# f2 D * x2 @- |/ c D: W: [; \! I8 l- U5 F The Expat Exodus 5 Z8 r% l: b& L; r) P
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. ( ~$ ?* M3 O% b8 o / O3 b# @6 Z( ]+ E' S! w, z1 t 7 v u. y }( [" H9 @ h5 Q0 ~# m" ? Emigration 3 `. r8 P( O% F! F! Z- | l
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. : P1 ^- Y- e& K- ~ u 2 m/ k% J- c7 `" H- b & a% L9 c4 [9 S, g 《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。 $ A7 u7 |! |1 n1 b& J& T& l$ O8 n & c8 {5 W: W# g) ] 《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。 ! R1 E. F2 @ \$ p - C* M4 c' p( g) u 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
" }% [- t k2 t2 y9 ^The People's Liberation Army $ \1 r& F0 i# P0 i# G" i0 J5 tA 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. 5 a* O ^. g6 ^3 J9 i' p3 |+ S+ \8 p+ `6 r
9 D7 K( ~" ~. E# s - i7 m: [8 L0 b, Z# R: EVictoria 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. $ }, m- X: }* V* [2 Z/ m2 i2 `# @, F$ G
( h" S; w( P" @ % ^' Y; V$ A5 F4 pMilton 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. 0 J& t" b4 ~" \: o - d: J8 B8 |( g8 U 1 b1 _. c+ i. V3 K. a% p8 V# }' f! y4 x8 _
With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. * \- c8 T( C0 G9 Y, P + U/ A9 }; f' y/ f$ B3 \1 `4 d- V) t, ^- Y& 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. 5 D& s' M- V3 G: S: t, @: Q6 Y7 t9 r1 \* ~: {# S
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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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