[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。6 I$ t5 f5 U6 ?8 _4 p3 f6 w
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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。* i% a( ~4 S# R* g0 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。1 A4 I, n3 n$ N( n( V! T

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& H/ m& g$ r+ d! e; m; d& LJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.
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0 X' ?; M9 Z6 B! K& Z) ZFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.4 c8 l0 A6 h8 t( b3 h) k7 A
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2 d+ o& m( j' X+ d) C* N! f3 UMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de+ U$ u$ V+ N% Z- L" r/ J! m* \

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The Expat Exodus rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de2 _" d) v% w5 v; q
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.
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Emigration
* ?0 T4 m9 U- G. g% C  C, frs238848.rs.hosteurope.deJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover.
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$ z' R" i$ H4 d; a% F9 z& L, _& h　　《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。人在德国 社区2 S# o2 [7 a# P, i

' }3 ^; K( d; ^$ A! b) D/ a　　《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。% S, d9 z, g7 o2 K+ p. S+ v

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日月光

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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. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de- u7 z/ H, }5 T& A, F# F1 Z1 q/ I+ w7 w3 `
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5 O& X* ~4 ?; _3 i3 r( ]8 J3 Y. s8 rVictoria 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. # L% ^0 |9 E, I, c% F% G4 S
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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.
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* S: f; D# B& ^0 A/ O- C3 M0 ~rs238848.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." C# t$ a2 b$ b: [+ e8 E, `
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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. & Y$ }) |/ K8 D! J! a. O9 d

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9 v, @+ w6 w% |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.