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。$ @! W( g, I- m% R. b; R
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2 I' v( ?0 J" h5 l # f2 Z( u, y* N" a! [ 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。# R6 V/ F0 ^$ A+ N" |/ Q6 I
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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。 " F1 S3 a9 d) |# G$ i4 b ! }0 o4 ~8 {: [# x9 T# E8 L( _9 D & E: H6 |- ?# I" ~ July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. / i# {" W% R3 z* Q0 [; S$ i- ]4 e' J& F D & b k0 i( ^! t- `8 L) _5 y! j 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. % D! ]7 n2 j9 l6 H& B0 |0 P4 z4 S X4 _$ d2 {. A
0 [% w# |/ ^( F, J/ z/ y4 P8 j9 M, A" o# a9 I5 T- Q7 r March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 3 B: \9 _$ d$ T5 `5 |: {1 { ! l( i7 c* p% V8 F 3 h1 Y M$ o7 C0 _6 hThe Expat Exodus 9 q2 u) `+ O! z/ T/ M
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. " J3 [, v; P- A; ?$ y
( l' K$ U6 _+ ^2 T 4 M5 T1 q0 x+ q" y* p% g 4 j! Y3 J2 L" J7 c+ I N' m Emigration " |* i/ ~( I! u; a; ?/ t c
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. ) |& g7 q! D2 { n, n$ @/ [ 6 x1 P! t" t: r( b5 h
0 R; l! Z( m$ z/ b% v1 R 《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。 & e% I! e8 N- ]2 a/ Z' l ! G6 O4 R3 V( n+ l1 c% n
《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。. \" [# K: f# I! X0 A T/ w8 u 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. # \: M. i5 _4 J8 }3 V1 H7 g
2 y- Q. }( X1 L9 r. m+ J5 F# O1 x8 l* { x0 r5 D" B2 I ; T; v7 `) R+ U' b9 O: B" pVictoria 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. ) H+ [" a6 B! t! V; b
; f8 U4 X% }# @( l4 I2 e" X8 B2 }! m' U6 F; ?+ m4 r$ x y 1 k. s" Q# O2 K IMilton 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. - n4 g& C; M- W- k) |1 K
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8 [) Y9 @3 g- N) W$ H: O 0 Q; ]- K3 u7 v$ ]With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. 7 D: p7 F/ X1 Z7 d' n* c. m9 u V/ T" n7 [% }7 ~8 E: ~ 2 @, N/ X; ^- q1 G7 {
Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 0 {6 _ z2 v W# v& G0 R: E( K
5 ~* p# g ]0 k4 D' Y9 h' A + b: ?$ t% @6 ~( C U% Z7 j. d) y- VContrary 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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