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。 * L6 Q$ z. d; U, b2 V / K! O. }8 I! J1 _6 Y& i 6 l) E4 D+ c B5 z, U. i" f( l$ p5 h2 K1 U4 T1 |
& @. G% m5 a4 \0 u 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。; _+ T* X& ~4 y9 X" C7 N
2 W' o. M1 k3 L r( H8 W 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。 % |) L9 P# s3 H- R0 Q# P 9 G9 w7 {0 |8 X2 D6 M$ o* N/ E9 B; q s$ m8 o4 @2 A- S; l8 CJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.; J4 K7 y+ i$ \- N5 }
0 `8 K2 ]0 c4 Y" f * O! ~6 @3 N u+ YFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.1 P& b R$ q3 G$ U4 u
0 ]7 T% e! N" F; N 7 \8 I% ` c$ w# F/ T$ D. E: X: B% S9 _- V* \ }! \ March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. - x4 V' {5 l! S+ G) ~6 g , k9 Z+ V* N8 ]% s) @" s0 l: f% T; `6 m# f! x The Expat Exodus ' y0 S9 c, W0 G0 @1 T
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. % L. B2 k* N1 j5 J9 F; g5 ? % t0 C) E* H1 m% t5 |. P. ^2 y ' C) n. O& F* Z8 L4 J+ g$ h8 S) s* d# p/ U, w8 ^ Emigration 2 x" z' V+ ~5 M# x
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. # ` R) s5 x* Q' w$ V1 z
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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. 7 G" Q& |7 [" O: K$ V( {' B1 h/ c
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& \* E$ R, I s# O, { 6 [9 G8 x8 [, E$ }. u7 i4 d/ RVictoria 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. 4 S. t- ?6 a2 S
) a9 u7 b Z! D) L, f3 ^ _& i& ^0 J 0 a: x; d( |6 U; H% zMilton 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. 6 z2 f% T# l, ~5 C2 x* ?0 v
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/ R$ R+ M2 E/ m4 ~. E + _/ U* z- ?3 }5 H7 ?% H4 p9 ]With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. # P% S. O: g, X3 d( g! ^) X; k8 o: |1 _5 C: [2 i 4 _4 ~% F5 F0 C6 |1 nHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. , m! p; ]; s* }2 {& T/ ~8 a. f, }
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* u; u& L8 I1 P: R3 Q" G 0 F: v0 N h* r* }7 C! w! [* IContrary 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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