[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。人在德国 社区; R( }: e  |9 e4 p: i' ~
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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。1 w& j& X4 j, A( i

9 v0 N- R+ Z, E7 e0 b　　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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de4 Z6 k* c( Y- c5 y% P1 [
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July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de- g- J" A* P) Y# E9 A- ~: G$ M
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. d8 h: O8 }- y# s" A0 Q  W. ?人在德国 社区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.
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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de6 F2 q( j# M% U, Q1 P8 G
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The Expat Exodus
, S2 y1 \! o7 |7 cOn 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. % u2 A4 z% K. X3 c5 ?1 B+ D- w

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Emigration
  E  j; _$ a' u' i人在德国 社区Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. & N# v% {6 N( j. h* ]' N- r# g7 Y- x4 e

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4 v6 Q4 I8 J& ^  V' D: B人在德国 社区　　《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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! d! u) V- Z* o. X  c3 V　　《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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- j3 c: g% K" d! m1 k  BThe People's Liberation Army
/ s1 N. Q) \0 q! I8 R3 m* b3 [$ JA 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. 7 k# ^6 E9 _3 q/ x$ C1 ^

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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. 5 ~$ d% m' H0 y  h; Q6 P! ^/ n

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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.
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, W7 B, L( q( o( O' f: o4 wHong 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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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.