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。) l4 e# X) b2 O( r' g( r
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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。9 r, I# D% o' H
, \ F, x5 U3 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。 / l: _( e E$ V8 L! Y% O- h + p' ]4 {7 V1 q5 j3 L6 {- ^# W# A 9 }3 k( ]8 `0 CJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.) v; Q" H& V! |! U
; M, U. G3 K" A; _% f" d . E+ L/ E7 J- O 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.8 `* w$ ?0 w8 J! U
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' E4 L# f0 Q, q; A3 _5 p" N5 C! c ' I( j$ w) \2 k8 J( C March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 0 W& W( ]0 p) [: F0 a9 ^
6 u# ?5 [) L4 O % d) m$ s7 k% iThe Expat Exodus 0 |4 g( T* C8 ?+ r( L& m( r. L
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. 8 U& y8 ^: Q5 ?' {; |7 l k 6 K& r3 c" }7 `( t , \2 d$ i) [# D" t& L9 J0 ] 9 L' Q D" _+ J& m2 N6 m) E1 P Emigration y+ V) m- X9 P5 A# n1 w) _Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. T- Z1 w1 ]' }& Z3 r% M& g
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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。) T( ~& s. E4 i: W8 d& m" N
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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。) b' U! Y( a' e. z5 h6 K3 e
( q) w+ C+ V5 y3 n6 X, c/ u' zThe People's Liberation Army * D" c! Q" m- U( d" L' o% W* r) A4 {# mA 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. ' A1 u0 }$ Z" ]7 }8 R5 j9 a! I
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) V' W* u1 s2 U 5 u% H$ [) I- x1 k C% H1 Y: ~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. 2 |) O: L0 ^1 l& m6 I% D' P4 l# m* r& C. A# ]) ]0 |
; G/ U) J9 f S" O+ Z8 B ! b$ t4 P; N& o7 aMilton 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. * C; B: l9 y/ ?7 x& m
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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. + R- P( r& H' @ " d' f3 s* i) F9 R, l2 ~9 x: B % ~1 k" S' n* n# I' N( v! B# wHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. $ f. }4 j1 H9 f8 T, W
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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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