[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。0 b" W$ C( ^  B; d
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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。3 n9 D* b9 d% q& 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。
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  S# }! a+ ^! W5 t  n9 C  ^rs238848.rs.hosteurope.deJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.人在德国 社区  Q7 ^6 r* b/ L
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7 P9 ]5 k! s" i1 d( a( @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.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de/ S- c3 M! I- E4 x/ q/ ]4 H: t

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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. : C1 R9 P( ?1 E5 W9 e
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The Expat Exodus 0 C; ]! r9 T8 ^- x' G& i, 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. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de3 C7 V) s3 |' K% l3 ^+ \
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Emigration
' d" e# @+ m% xJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. $ t+ P5 ^# p& F& N# r

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2 l0 a5 y0 I( s: X' N+ e$ M, y" l- h5 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。; u1 I* [" h- b

  I6 c7 f8 M7 m! ?3 irs238848.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。
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The People's Liberation Army
7 I8 o# }" K. {; s2 B; E" x9 `rs238848.rs.hosteurope.deA 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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; N5 \, I4 S3 F1 C$ u6 R  @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. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de0 x( N, j2 R8 E

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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. * E4 M0 D3 Z( }+ ]+ b0 E
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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.5 f' Z2 I- v2 u8 v1 r8 _1 X) J

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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.
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$ v3 q( z& G. u! O1 Z+ b' q* X8 gContrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.