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。 2 x4 o" b. N6 I, k- ^" |$ L 6 V/ w4 c2 J ^$ q+ L+ c9 X 5 W! j8 ?) G6 ^1 j& S6 L' h; H' c" 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。, k) `% v7 x. c* U! L1 Y/ W
1 V8 u P X! [- L+ d3 ~ 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。 3 d' p e) f* l( m X. B' p7 ?! X6 Y, e, a/ Y : o# y; W( c5 k' f6 F$ O, \July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. 6 D; u9 q' X' j" M2 B# t9 O- w' [% V8 `4 P! p; Z1 x* W/ R4 o8 B 1 k4 S; B: k8 q# P/ U' xFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected. 8 G' ?$ A" |, `# W7 c+ L) n( z/ d/ A [- i
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% }* |1 a2 K9 P, {, V" `1 S5 j 6 A j0 X. x3 BThe Expat Exodus ' q6 z3 i$ f, }4 S& V' }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. # F# f l1 M8 y6 u+ h4 n9 m, `5 \ H5 D/ Y; ]( k7 }6 E2 ?1 R
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Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 7 I/ C3 k4 C5 r4 o; w# n8 I& h ) G+ A1 p* I- A$ h% h- | ) l9 \7 t, r( y4 z 《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。# X2 @" j; O9 d% I4 u
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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。 ' r7 V" e# V/ q% S 4 O) v2 V0 b" G; @! T/ K+ N 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
g3 U5 ]6 O. I( _- ~. RThe People's Liberation Army 3 t5 x! H$ t; ^7 m/ O# _. ~6 W$ k
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. ; N, _. F$ ^: n5 v9 v9 ]& A, G8 F2 R0 O# O
3 c+ r& U- y# O% Q' b6 W t3 j: k j2 F* a2 Y9 iVictoria 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. & ^8 F, C q9 u! k
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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. # H: j& `+ L# G ~
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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. 9 r- n, {7 Q3 i- _ ( I) L" g+ A6 Q # x- z6 J" k* o/ h. O1 \/ FHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 4 Y: c8 l6 c3 W7 _, u" D3 v `$ `/ n1 H( X- @1 M9 g2 x: f" ^- ~; x
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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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