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。 & H9 q1 U1 b3 _! H$ g$ a3 T0 h f - e2 k# J# r$ c$ j 3 r' ~ ^4 P2 I& K$ q$ a. p6 @$ W3 k% Z5 d, m, {
" j- @( B6 E) y( a* d! `7 r- ~6 w 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。* \3 p+ j9 [. o5 o" ?4 J2 T
- q9 y% Q2 q+ b3 s/ e 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- `3 }. ~* P8 t# t6 R
1 P8 _. O; \% v" E $ y0 {' W- p5 i8 r0 C% e July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.6 z: [6 X, e1 f' O! e" w* f8 T
: Q/ \0 }8 B0 l9 J* y! x5 R8 A. d0 W: e: ?. g2 O C8 i; n- V/ R 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. / p( u, f. L* [2 n, g0 _7 \: U8 z5 I7 V! Z8 Z
8 M) L( r" ^; F+ X9 j" m3 ~ 6 S* w; C z1 I7 i& H$ c3 BMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. * z6 A: X, s8 E7 w, y9 T. w# I* v \% r H4 d3 s * z E2 P% g5 Q# [: nThe Expat Exodus 9 U: j" }4 c) r
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. 7 r% W+ L) V, m# Y ( w9 D; P0 C: V# n; b4 u
$ \9 v6 E# p4 W- ~8 l+ {8 i8 b% ?( R1 Z, c Emigration 5 {( r( m$ M C& [: }: b3 V' T
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. , C: h7 W6 r$ \& @2 {, q& @ J 6 H1 f: K4 ~# z6 H t: P2 P2 w/ D3 i) ?5 [% {- p
《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。6 b1 x6 o* R5 J. ?+ s& ~0 D+ N
! k: y3 m. O9 V 《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。7 I O+ V" n, n! ]8 |
B. m' u2 @6 S" C' g作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
. z& j! i9 G2 r2 n. ~ The People's Liberation Army # v8 x, U: `2 Y, b& L7 o6 EA 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. - \. i3 i, o- Y8 V( j/ ]
3 }, @- M1 z; N: b $ z+ H1 F/ c X, F2 o+ z- Q + W" K1 i6 H9 c4 F6 u- M5 kVictoria 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. $ m8 b3 |& Y1 P& M, d; e$ i & J' f# _0 O2 F; ]) z! Q! `- q O- n; h% K $ T, p# i: z1 k& _6 ?; ?- J/ [: pMilton 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. ' [. F" \% n( x2 l, U2 O! v
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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.1 i; @$ e. s: [) X! d) A" b
7 x2 ]9 |' R( r 1 y5 T' R4 w2 X0 @9 B E$ AHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 0 {4 ~3 e7 I. |9 g _ / Y# `$ i- B! B" ~. B- D1 O) A _! Y7 U( n% b6 T) A6 Z % A- P1 y6 A; _0 I1 RContrary 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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