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。 ) e7 N' W: I5 A , {+ ~+ I( |5 o& }, ~: F3 F # Y* w, x8 N/ O5 }7 n5 O0 q1 g. }7 F. L& B
- H+ H+ a0 d3 }: X! T* T" e' ~7 X 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。 ( i* e9 @9 d7 c! h' S R9 ^ 9 J3 P% X8 v: h) G3 Y3 G. o( _5 G5 [
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。: h+ j1 Y" @$ N3 ~3 k, C, v
# y" }! ~; v& P+ { / R- b6 y8 F4 v1 ^0 z2 y July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.9 _3 ^) J4 c2 X* l0 H7 y
; a# q. e0 ?' V4 V% w" Q, M$ N" p6 B ~, d+ ]' ?8 i 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. 6 ~% Y( ^0 P7 j( ]7 W # c8 @9 N+ V: ^5 O" m3 @! V# F) }( P4 O1 o3 h3 x1 A 7 V$ M9 B: t" h2 M/ m0 r2 W$ w March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 9 J5 o) j, g! b! ^# j! M; n2 L( }0 S5 Y $ j. M1 B, S3 j9 m) }The Expat Exodus ( p3 w6 H$ w) y% {& S0 U& o% XOn 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. j+ y3 P% B& n0 f) |: H
$ }& a$ P1 `2 ~$ A. c 5 l! y( v9 Y$ f" S) ^ 8 P" G7 j/ }# c v7 t# FEmigration 7 Z9 F* J/ P) c/ E v; Q
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. ( e( I& Z1 }- K2 r% R1 \
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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。 $ l6 o0 |& r/ L2 a8 z7 r6 I ) @& }6 ^3 n$ |6 L
《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。 - R& g2 G' W# ^; A# R # C9 C3 q: z" ^5 o" u 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
7 i) c2 o$ ?: t8 Z+ G9 r The People's Liberation Army $ i5 ^% q" v# m6 i; C, e& ?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. * i8 @9 p- d! x7 k% Q " b2 M" c; }3 {# U' O! |8 V, A* \ u5 t $ O3 P* V4 n7 A; TVictoria 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. 2 h8 @3 W* R1 D( K w0 _' E1 K/ N 3 a2 \9 J9 d: T1 N2 v* [3 N) v. j0 u O9 R6 N , k1 |5 d" x: \3 w. m, K% k% \
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. 8 \# Z+ L4 s) ^' i& a
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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.6 R% d) e7 q2 M) b, O9 y
A2 Z4 F: a ?. R" G- h' g ! d$ k7 O* `6 E9 d8 E0 g( fHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 3 a' {/ }+ F# i- o* B$ O+ M! x0 \8 @ b; |, m9 S( R. j
: ]! `6 H# f* | , g' Q! t% ~" n* r! JContrary 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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