[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。2 Z* k9 V# E  Q+ H+ R5 u6 i
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5 D5 ~7 m7 O- N/ _5 y4 T　　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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/ Y7 h9 U7 `7 W　　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。) A5 B, ]; I$ A  j/ ?$ C1 C

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& ~9 N7 y& t3 A5 G: E0 D: x- {9 UJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.- U7 X9 t2 J5 R# _1 D1 L0 M
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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.1 ^) [5 Y) q: e, u

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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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The Expat Exodus
' Y, ^/ F! t% Y7 j- u& O; Z* y$ Lrs238848.rs.hosteurope.deOn 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.de6 t2 R; x: Z$ m2 }

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, I6 U( r5 x% n* n4 {& v　　《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。7 B- R( S# j" i! T7 p" U
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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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) f' h0 |8 R# UVictoria 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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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. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de9 P# Y) R$ s5 ]# G  l

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: Q3 I# h  O( ars238848.rs.hosteurope.deWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.# ^1 g5 `( }. |; e
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( i* i# d( i, K: K; P& B4 YHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 6 v. s' h# Y9 c/ j" I& 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.