[国际新闻] 《时代》25页篇幅认错：回归没令香港死亡

日月光

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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de1 F" u7 J) Z9 y$ ^  K. j1 R. P
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& a: R7 ^6 a' b+ b3 U　　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+ o0 q0 Q1 B$ c4 U) s$ F0 v1 O
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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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July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.) M, Q. m1 X3 l4 P; t2 i" @
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8 R6 G1 [( y$ @/ e2 W" }1 R" v0 SFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.( w5 S& Z6 ?* e, N8 p3 r

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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health.
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) E# ?- a7 e$ ]5 e2 m6 ^1 O3 gThe Expat Exodus
; v; f$ x4 R  C) t" s5 p5 EOn 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.
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Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de1 ?4 \# a" A$ m# q) S4 V( h9 `

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1 L; F& O  \/ r9 n/ i' P　　《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。
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　　《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。/ ?2 B8 t; d6 e& m# E& t- U7 u
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日月光

4 D+ `; C. q+ Q6 C2 x, XThe People's Liberation Army
( F; z. F  v- O. g, L! o& vA 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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  O' j* ~9 P/ I  F4 B6 X; ?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.
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, H; h7 B" n( Q" ?! T* t0 ]& pMilton 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.
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% |, B. n9 b' x2 b8 p! @! ^With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.
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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. $ [# \  |, u7 @9 [/ n

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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.