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。 3 _% q! d" i( {8 u% [. ] . b! l( n, Y, ]0 N( ]5 p- [4 w* Y A9 |( O7 b( N( A/ o6 u9 V - b# A% `1 J! r1 M- y( p7 _. O* f3 R1 q' [
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。7 g: B, L' q6 j' p# b
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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。 % ?4 a$ ^$ f2 ^+ m: a" F 6 W! c) ?( q" Z% f7 l8 O2 Q' M% k 7 K' ^2 H7 m& K# iJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.4 a& ~! C' g% h2 m p
; s K6 f* v( N% J0 n' c6 v; p * l9 m+ T# l! I( Z$ k5 hFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected. - k; N! n4 x9 _ ; [! S/ a" V8 z* ?" u: j$ T4 k3 o* `9 v: W8 g( z 0 b" u3 d. }( a: FMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. % D9 P8 n6 o, B. B
9 W# V7 `0 Z) w( [2 f( b ( |/ Z. E3 {! `& QThe Expat Exodus 3 g' B/ ?- n7 D4 p' @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. " P# c$ a7 m+ p2 X+ l6 U
) O7 w% f& y. G - I. n$ n9 O+ j) J+ d* H3 u1 i( B4 T5 W% @9 p( w0 v Emigration * j d3 S: c) q+ b0 }! IJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 5 d. r' X- i2 b8 S: t4 t- C / o% V- G0 _4 K
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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。5 F" k/ r" Z: C5 E
8 W( X" I/ i! } t* D0 r. A 《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。* z- `" J8 E7 z- Q
4 T% w$ a6 q2 u$ `7 K作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
( F1 p( y9 X8 A9 c+ J, pThe People's Liberation Army - i3 I* ?" l) ]4 [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. , b$ J' L, S" N0 |
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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. # u4 y) _' {- v$ J0 y3 F o: _7 I+ T
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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. % j; T( U9 ], c
( o5 B X' z% U& p* u% z ! y7 [( {* d6 V: O* ~ % T! D, s# Z8 sWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover./ G0 p J( }+ m. n/ K3 {1 v+ d
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Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 7 x/ G6 f' [8 L: [1 L9 U0 \. b5 e( r- v& J$ u2 H. z
5 D- c) \* f, M/ o3 A 7 k/ \& W" o9 _: c' u: q9 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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