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。7 V( L! O% g( [
4 x# k' [! w0 N( U2 W " f* B/ p. I" ^* U5 Q" B . ]1 K- B& j) w2 E) s. B/ t8 h4 ` 6 t; q$ M1 i9 R4 }0 v 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。" a a* P7 `/ N5 D' r R5 B: B8 q
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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。 " Y7 T7 `* _. p: t/ O2 u * j; _5 f! w6 I8 e- L/ v / P1 X$ T3 D" t* P% sJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.$ T! V6 f/ C' g" A6 _# T- u
* H: i6 z1 q+ R( J! v: t/ ^ 7 B! N& h3 e, d; p 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.1 \. N3 B$ _1 N$ H p! U9 X
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4 V9 k1 f- }+ P6 z; p 3 V7 ?) ]$ \7 O) E March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. ' \9 `+ d+ [+ ^0 N6 m0 s, F* j1 i8 |8 H) V4 I. v8 c ; [% M% P+ L" L+ w1 B: l1 }2 y The Expat Exodus 0 b: A% ] X7 R1 m- W
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. 3 w! `8 [, z$ B$ S$ N4 ]: a1 ?& f * x( {4 N; p- n1 E) Z ' m4 o, J1 y- w6 ?( j- P1 T" \) {; f* b; y V y3 Z& y* M6 h Emigration 6 n* Y, F3 p$ w# m- ~
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 6 E0 l2 u: d2 Q5 Z( k9 V9 y* x . b9 l7 [, v( g9 g5 @
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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。 8 i1 x6 V) m) v5 b; p! i z & o% a r6 ~( q t8 N% z
《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。 : Z2 c: F# r& i + R) b+ A+ Q; q' b2 }- \* b 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
v- E4 ?7 ?* T7 U# Q% w% a The People's Liberation Army # F% D% A; k; Y# M$ ]: C4 _
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. 2 o) R$ _7 u4 R2 R: {
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' Z2 Y# t, c; {; B/ T - ^7 y l4 j) f# B$ Q) `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 k+ H' {: E2 _2 A" u4 ?2 _9 U% D7 X P
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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. . B9 r6 ?' {( w* Y+ ^4 x: y/ H1 y$ [9 v; f
! k6 l/ e5 P( c. O, t 8 N. \5 H7 q' w& uWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover. . X: e3 U) H0 W1 \0 r" `7 V( t# k I0 g, [: c. X6 V/ h$ G) E 2 S7 b0 F2 N) n) D6 `6 ?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 g) G# X, o+ {0 i
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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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