[国际新闻] 《时代》25页篇幅认错:回归没令香港死亡

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。
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  ~+ i. t* O/ d1 b  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。
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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。# q2 ?  I2 }) \8 g1 }
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July 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.  t/ z: e2 e+ z9 S% E

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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. $ x+ |+ J( s8 ^3 x4 W( L
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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. 人在德国 社区! {5 @8 S9 q: Y5 ]  D; v

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( T! K7 `" H. c& F: F/ P: ~rs238848.rs.hosteurope.deEmigration rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de' D4 }9 X; s( d0 n1 g1 N5 q. o$ g
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 5 |& t* n$ j$ K3 n" Z3 L$ s( Q2 f

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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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de& d# |0 V8 }) g" a, k* A; @* s
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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。人在德国 社区9 [6 Q" h2 h+ B! h1 L
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The People's Liberation Army
( O6 l3 W" s4 b: r2 g) R6 N+ x; ?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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# o# Y: u: u4 l3 z! x0 B人在德国 社区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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7 `( k- W) @/ j+ V8 MMilton 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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8 d. o* ^9 U0 X  P. W% q9 a" {1 lWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.& Y7 [7 u9 e! n7 U* E2 ]. g

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, D: k3 n2 s$ c3 N& M& Q3 ^Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de0 ^3 f; N; Q+ M0 O
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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.

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