[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。: \+ |9 ^8 _7 T! Q. K: l
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' f1 G, S# C1 X; q7 c, M& p　　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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de) V6 l) p$ E" j$ G' t9 T0 n6 ]

9 Q6 i. i5 o; U　　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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9 R! Y5 w- s( `$ c4 U+ {3 oJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.; q+ C9 `. a% B& s* |

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* H0 @0 W4 I# m; Q7 j4 Prs238848.rs.hosteurope.deFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.  h# L( J: w- X6 N
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8 x) P9 e1 l; k3 t+ `% bMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health.
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. G$ f  |. j. f* Y人在德国 社区The Expat Exodus
& k% K" ]" m% T, H/ w4 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.
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' l3 u7 p6 p( z3 Q( I$ B: D! m* yEmigration 4 z9 U$ N2 }4 A& x/ G9 w
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 人在德国 社区+ D) p. [' n8 m
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, P$ j7 H, x  U6 k' ]/ F/ Z3 I2 u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。人在德国 社区- o  }; m& _2 H; e, d9 `" q
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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。, ]3 x& B! }# F4 `  D- \; ]

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The People's Liberation Army / Y7 ]$ r! K8 @8 A" h
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. 人在德国 社区5 ^6 d* k2 Q( \' `/ m7 M

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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. $ U8 h. X. M3 }5 j
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+ O" m1 A0 a1 wMilton 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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With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover., p3 ?3 W( ~" j0 t

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! A8 w- m: P" ]3 w0 y人在德国 社区Hong 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.