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。+ R0 O3 l2 U( z, r% U
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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。) u; F+ g d7 D
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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。 7 m, u3 {- A H* g; b $ ~' i% \% {' o: M" j1 B Z7 K* i: s3 E+ d" EJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.; `* ] Y/ [/ T! ^0 n w
) |& l% `3 f( y+ {: |' t! k8 a* V$ ]) A V 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.9 P; m5 G% U+ }; S/ s1 c
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0 N& d0 q7 k; j3 B( p 7 x2 X7 h* Q C# j9 a2 }March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. , [1 C% V# x" |& d4 y2 W. }0 s( N0 c$ N6 z. [ * J5 d) G2 c/ M( AThe Expat Exodus ( r" p6 p9 ^9 f; X2 w+ UOn 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. ) ~% E( N s" x3 `( A 8 U" |& z$ Z( A, T/ d
5 `0 u& t, {/ L4 u- q& v/ I# p% q: y. S4 S/ f7 A9 h* }8 t0 B$ s Emigration ' S$ ?- s W5 k: D6 L: p6 A% bJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. F1 ~& X, M: h: D" B 7 x9 m/ q7 `" Y5 d. \
$ A2 r% d- v( O1 y 《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。! ~3 x, v, |7 G9 A% ^
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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。 % A' x, t! o6 @+ c0 ~) T 3 ?1 \% H5 @9 S; {2 B k 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
3 J2 `$ g, l9 G7 ]. M/ s1 a3 C The People's Liberation Army ) K, r! ?7 j, `- z* {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. ; m9 i& i/ a$ y& |# G
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0 _' z \$ x# U% J5 a ! o) D) [: {3 H0 a7 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. - H$ I# E5 l' f, N& [; m4 E6 a4 p( e* J- n0 Q
4 b v/ O$ [. C( L4 U) h . _; U" C! {$ K4 L4 m4 @' OMilton 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. & K8 ] H g5 F) ^, z1 `* G* r; s" S/ H" P/ Q0 j) d9 t# A- W/ \2 q
& v7 T5 w2 A/ O$ u& k: e% k 0 a x4 Y+ _6 S& ]# l. XWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. & x( P f7 k$ S( C. `6 [1 Y/ I3 \" \ * m( V+ U/ b7 V/ V4 y
Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. ( I. F, t3 u+ Y# O8 g" g, I+ x
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% u' d/ T) M/ ]6 E. t% z& a% ]/ P + Q, y( W, s- `* s7 k' j) `% A! }# x$ KContrary 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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