[国际新闻] 《时代》25页篇幅认错：回归没令香港死亡

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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。( x9 O. W* x5 B) @
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; F# V/ I& @; ^　　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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de( Q+ t' a/ F0 H! e$ `

$ g4 y( q( F! }; [2 G　　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。人在德国 社区' G. d: q- V  }  n  [( Q$ n

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7 P# {5 ~% I6 G2 D/ L& yrs238848.rs.hosteurope.deJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.
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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.: m6 S  M' I; x" }" d
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9 ?; h" ]7 d& a. p5 ?$ LMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health.
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  a2 x  d7 \2 R+ w- Q/ I7 frs238848.rs.hosteurope.deThe Expat Exodus
# M$ `- h$ }( o8 Y# U2 kOn 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 @& L! e7 s) @2 G

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Emigration
/ G+ z8 w9 _5 E7 T: B7 HJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover.
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2 V1 ~  ]6 U1 p9 \6 o. 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。1 @( R0 a8 \; [& q( x2 s

2 k, s* V3 A8 H4 M7 Ers238848.rs.hosteurope.de　　《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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de3 X* Q* X, m2 Z
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* [  U9 Z0 P6 QThe People's Liberation Army
) H3 K' F6 l* d& N( ]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.
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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. ! Z+ x8 Z: `0 f8 Y
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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. ! Z8 q) |; z& w: g* 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.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de) T, A) J5 [9 E' i( N# v; H* z9 ^
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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. 6 y  T6 C9 Z( U! w+ \: 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.