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。 & t1 R7 f: j$ R( t & M7 k5 i) S9 y, ~2 x" w ; ]8 n9 J( M6 m; g' r5 {: m * V1 D0 O7 `/ Q* q0 E' A 1 r `( _: I* O 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。 ) x$ I6 J* r# b9 d 0 h9 ~( d+ c" k9 a
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。 / s( f4 T) K9 K ; X( _' l& H" [ 4 b8 k2 }! {" T$ }5 ^5 QJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.0 T5 d' @) Q: C! S; p; }: T
5 u% c- d5 v7 D) {$ d' m, H. z7 | ( l; w* B5 |0 `2 H$ zFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.9 G% e$ ^) ]" j3 j
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8 A: V( r/ s1 p- K) F6 ` , M* `2 l9 ?, `) |; n) |6 J [March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 7 ]0 y& ]1 L3 e* _* U. r 6 q4 a6 `+ y E) D& p1 j. W1 k* `2 f6 }8 ~- o' e The Expat Exodus [' U+ o% k. E5 R" d6 @' V8 d
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. / l5 I, @% \/ h " v: B J# `7 x, w: ~- b
8 k) j" J; w3 c6 A9 v, H ' Q* A- n4 {* u$ V" D7 P) zEmigration 5 A2 ^# ^3 [3 ?6 W: ^- w; N) qJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 9 h5 I5 B1 d" @9 t . l$ F% @. L; @. p/ {- \
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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。 7 }8 V# A S5 ~ }: H3 {, L" j. _ / Y& A: g' K( f3 \# A6 P
《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。 ' R. b- u* ?! G$ L- I @ 1 Y) s) i% R& ~ 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
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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. ) E* i r1 D- s
% O) l- w+ V# s: l7 V( x( R; G* n2 o, x $ d2 @% C. v" b: ~1 N4 mVictoria 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. 8 \7 l# ~0 s3 [& |; F
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Milton 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 _& s3 D2 J/ b% h" T* U0 z ( O8 D q' w! z; ^6 u/ d* W # b4 M, e# X" S4 `, C; s7 } 0 R8 E3 r; E! r0 z1 y9 H. TWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. * `1 r4 p$ }3 F6 T8 C $ e9 w( t$ K, d1 Y " M, E+ {+ v5 j$ r( nHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. % L5 D7 k4 ~. C6 W* X/ l$ V l9 y2 T7 F% L$ i: p) y
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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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