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 |& u3 y6 f3 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。. G. }' r" m# Z' ~/ K7 P1 d
; V3 z# j$ }8 t9 r2 F+ B8 | 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。 , E! x0 N- r& Y ; F' E% U' b5 {! e8 \ X$ Z* Y: [. H7 Z" o H5 a" Q9 y July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong. ( j* K1 k% G5 X, Q 5 f) `' }, x9 j& A3 L+ [7 I, x4 `7 L) H) k- 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.. E j# \+ J9 q) x, _, X
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, c' |9 E9 @) L Q6 a$ t+ P4 N2 D * r) ]5 L L! _March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. - r6 M% k6 _1 u+ N9 c/ a, B0 m* _. [$ D8 ] * Z* t' t4 y# h' [9 } i The Expat Exodus + F! t# m) 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. 4 ~* m/ @4 e6 `( ~ * ~! q! ~( S6 ^9 P 9 }: f2 ^( W' y+ u6 c; u " ?7 t2 u$ @% w* h) a' A) }. \$ wEmigration $ Q& n: S3 r ^
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. . Y1 J$ s) M6 p+ I 1 x5 U5 v$ I% K+ P 8 `/ m- h: N9 n+ u. S( g
《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。" S+ x- z8 C' ^8 k. V7 v* X
6 M3 B- H( c/ Q2 C8 Y 《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 }5 d$ a8 H) P y. d8 f
8 Z. O4 T P- K, [' I 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
" }& i3 J& F" l3 |, z# X7 W( X4 l The People's Liberation Army 1 z: U: w7 I; I- N7 G& Q! J! @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. 4 a# Y5 `; Q# _( D: V
. w9 j( w# e7 |8 l3 v- i( \# }9 M( C) N7 A/ E 7 s/ s3 z. h* N" i6 I; 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 v+ D# O k& F+ M$ p; E+ u1 x
& m+ ]8 B! v4 Q % p" `( A2 @. w$ U) d ! p x) n# N. 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 u! |6 L9 o2 l" Y. q% p: v3 s: @2 p- C7 r+ X
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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 b6 ~9 |: V1 Z( ]# d/ O; ]
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Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. / w) ` L8 ]$ c
4 B: a |+ Z0 p+ g, f+ U' [6 [: w3 @; O% o, B7 y1 J% i6 z# e 8 @4 b% }8 @3 c* d5 AContrary 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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