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。 5 x) W1 \8 v8 I5 f3 K ' a3 u1 d9 K- Q" S / B( M& |+ B8 |! I& ^+ p# w; g# ^3 ~3 T* X- V' L
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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。5 Z y7 }. {) U7 m3 w6 A- X
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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。" @/ [; V) o& ^2 L, }0 Y; p1 H7 J3 j
/ o, @5 |8 w$ N. `+ b4 f6 |* S r3 v- d July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.' W9 P$ U5 D2 f5 S
% |6 b7 u" V3 s ; s# n: v, ~: t9 D5 SFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.# g! h8 @2 z4 x2 R, ?5 K9 [
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# v, D( W" Y: D `8 [8 f ) g' X# p+ y9 @$ Q" V b* oMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. ) m' ?* T' O8 v9 y# n0 a
# N. u! Q+ g9 \5 I" j2 B8 j o5 X* ^* Z The Expat Exodus / ]( e9 O% m- S" B1 c, |9 o( G, Y7 F
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. 4 ?+ ~/ o4 `) V* u# w 6 C2 {2 n1 l5 Q8 B) {- C8 v " y/ [" L5 p& L& A1 r6 } - _9 X( n7 W1 @% f Emigration / J* a9 G. f' y, M1 p P. t" { m
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. " e( `$ |4 k* @$ w
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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。" r7 N7 m P* H4 T7 a) ~$ M1 y z
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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。, j4 o4 C5 g+ y7 L( v9 m3 Q" C
( d, H/ F, C- q, i+ N' S* w作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
* _+ I6 X' `; Y' ` y The People's Liberation Army ! P$ w/ g% L/ K7 e# N2 D( T# S8 c" e
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. 9 `: X+ f( X5 x! }+ f
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2 e! L0 b: w- k/ ^3 q 0 c5 l/ u# A0 J6 i2 `6 jVictoria 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. , W6 X: [- g0 I% h0 y. r o$ H t$ E: V$ m
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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. # ?* C& R3 O4 s- i5 Y# V0 Y/ N/ ~. q7 T
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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.8 V8 z/ e6 d s. n. `0 Y& d
3 S* g' u9 J- C. b ) \4 V$ {2 f, k" ~' p, C4 Z3 tHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. f5 |) c+ Y3 k6 i- @ Z; d / h+ Z: b; o7 L/ F5 N4 Z3 k K8 D$ f* R7 e" Z% A6 h! T8 ` Q- o" H: a
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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