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。0 F H9 L+ w3 A$ ~1 v( K
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9 c9 [8 w7 j) a" f0 _ 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# L8 h3 C2 M4 u2 F
* M2 K4 [4 n* v- ]. S C8 u 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。 ' J+ ]' c; F7 z( z $ ]) _$ h1 N$ r: B+ | ' s5 {4 K+ o1 s$ N- l7 R4 bJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.3 _8 }/ b( [: z6 t: o
& x8 R4 O# n6 m/ t 8 R, U$ X1 b0 J5 B( u1 n) X 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.+ |* f9 h4 S: ~# u) X2 z* h+ e, y
) H* t) o1 J6 E/ P' w6 V% ~3 \9 a* ]0 W6 C( y* I $ I5 ]. p3 ?1 q March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. ( E# p% G+ U- h* V# A5 q& C6 I
8 j, H+ _; M* j& t% B& B : a# N* z7 q8 M) z, A; {! yThe Expat Exodus # f0 g/ d1 N. H
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. & U9 U* B$ o- P- M9 h& ]' [5 M7 h
8 u9 T2 K" Q4 T! k 3 I( K9 ]2 u7 S2 I% b4 c" ] ' X9 l ?4 L7 i4 U0 ^Emigration , o2 A8 Z) u+ ? D" Q
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. / b. s( e( f, T8 f/ F
- G4 G) C, d7 Y: W$ _The People's Liberation Army ' A, ]" U$ c; o) `6 g% _. nA 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. & ?* t! ~! U5 V+ e, z3 |) _ : d8 ?- q4 r$ @8 a9 [) I. [ ) x$ e9 \1 S S. u6 t 2 H, L% D4 R N% K4 S1 z& n2 lVictoria 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. 7 N2 j# s) N, W! @
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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. , M' ^5 e8 }# N0 Z2 M3 u 1 Y- D1 x9 v3 p0 v; Y6 Y" v0 z% o0 q0 e/ k, | , J% E4 R% y d4 s% T" l1 H6 _
With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. . b$ d H3 ?/ N1 C4 p# U7 q/ k( f9 C% v & N# y, |6 ]; S+ ? NHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 3 C% y3 ~* ?1 a6 {
3 h7 y, a: u4 Z! H' J& K. V# K* q& F$ ~# n& s! { ) F: s) A) Q) C4 a; b9 T8 WContrary 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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