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 R4 m7 `% b: O; Y+ r
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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。4 t% q5 |: Q. i' 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。& g" B! g5 {, E! O% F/ V
+ s3 d# G+ L* R: b & T i+ H6 I: |3 T. u; ~ July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. + N! R+ F" B3 ]& g, q8 U: [! v 4 n/ L _3 S& m6 z- ?6 C- _2 ^3 X6 L( j 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. 0 _9 d( }) X# p ! D+ O& S- R+ _6 T5 @! I. s) `: K/ a0 N: @% |0 D8 S 5 O( q! h/ @1 R2 h7 k5 ?4 L2 Q- nMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. - D7 Q y' Q7 A% b
: ?' @( X5 @* R " P) q( @7 i) V( hThe Expat Exodus ! ~- d$ Q; p( }& wOn 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. ( \" `: q. ^2 } 6 i- h( e& h9 D+ v9 T2 r& _ d
( u$ N6 f; u i# ~; t% \3 K* C# }. m9 t5 ?8 U% X7 s Emigration 6 S( g9 m5 f$ p4 S* @" d# L" LJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. , \+ l8 s F' W: g* Z! {
N# B+ D3 w5 M, R; a ! Z+ b3 L8 _( I D) R 《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 Y7 P% R/ c/ C0 N, 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。6 }2 N) d8 y1 m% \5 J9 @
3 V& @' p& f" u6 H5 M7 P5 w 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
% l3 a( I, q; x U L: F* O' U1 O The People's Liberation Army , ]% d5 ~4 |) B, u( \6 p/ @6 m
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. : U$ o' ^8 ^5 w& F3 O% U ) ^" Q# U8 J3 K' w1 a8 p( w7 I7 V3 x K + B# O$ \# O) T- q, x: }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. 3 M4 ]# T' E& l1 O! M
# h5 o- _: `/ ?) p+ D" ^4 k, G4 p" t1 ^5 Y( X2 C* L3 _ & y0 [: i1 \: TMilton 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. . [( \) @7 [9 v5 v8 c( P* @ o3 O1 q
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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." A P' G; a+ n+ j; f3 O0 R& K
" Q" e6 W7 n6 E) N : k: x' r, d. Q' P( I" THong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. # R2 N7 }# A; c) i- B2 P+ p5 q- G' V0 C3 w! M* L4 d
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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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