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 w- }' x r( Q o
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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。 ) M' H7 A4 A# \, Y# N# y5 h 2 Z! B7 E6 q @" U3 d& G& D
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。+ V: f+ |; R" z" _
# w1 t" y! {1 _" k0 Q : |4 f" S" b ~; W July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. 6 U; D9 Q, [6 [ }3 O6 _4 W+ L, K. W* h6 l# ~+ F) z9 U3 @) U 2 U0 H; V& L) A; v* oFeb. 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 X2 p* T$ j. W2 Y" v # k4 y: M- h! G |5 W& o6 [+ h# ?( ]4 u0 h, u( {% {! G 3 J- p2 j$ A8 @) n7 l% \( k% Z7 y* a March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 8 f p1 e/ r; ]; p/ D4 G# M1 f) J
. L! T; p* V4 V. V- [1 w + u4 X+ o2 O3 ?- |. WThe Expat Exodus 5 e8 y' [2 _9 LOn 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. % [% {0 ?* m7 @2 O" \( D ) |) k: w( B, M % `8 e: Q7 ?# e. i , D) u- A; L& y! c8 }6 XEmigration & Q% e1 X2 h+ B
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 0 Q+ {0 x+ H3 m% \) b7 t4 p8 O
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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 V" @* g3 Y9 B: o# D+ S( U) M
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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。1 V" y3 z$ h: _0 S9 @- b F, N
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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$ M* ~. m$ _$ {
d" a0 R' x, d- ^$ v$ z1 v: l, j; v1 l3 z3 Z ! R, v' K+ [! j$ L8 R% s+ H4 SVictoria 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 f( d2 z$ p1 {* H3 S( U# H* ^. v
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1 c; Z( k. J% g# D0 { 2 o0 W( c9 s# @; TMilton 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. 2 P' a3 D8 a# u9 {- D0 x9 H( k3 N+ C t5 e- k- y
9 [& `! q) [3 d: q ' @( |: ?& Y/ |( \( qWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. 3 ?2 a3 [: M- ^% B! V6 ^ R7 q# o' g) \+ @ , j% }+ ^ a6 Q8 L8 T' |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 v5 `# X/ ?( D
/ H1 ^/ X- S+ Z' ~, A+ l; @; M6 ?$ M/ n) ~6 l d! I ) x0 C% o: x5 @0 ~: j3 L7 uContrary 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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