[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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  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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, N. i+ }1 f/ T# ^  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 G. O  ]" [+ n& ?, U. E( Z9 I! \" q6 _
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July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.7 ~; E/ ^3 b! P9 u; G1 y9 `5 J

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0 |& r9 o% j7 r- p+ H. W% L7 z* ~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.7 f! J: e! P- `' C: H, ]* l3 I, D1 P

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" [  |; ], x8 @# Y3 X9 j2 l) ?7 N人在德国 社区March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. # H  o6 m( e; S5 M  S, M4 }

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) h# b# x/ v2 K; ~  i6 eThe Expat Exodus
8 K0 S- ~1 }& c7 ?* QOn 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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9 B1 ]  c, S; t- |Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover.   S  V! s' ?8 h1 K& H" L
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9 `& h  R$ D, P  k# ~  《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。+ j- m5 F# A, ]. k% J6 B4 L3 T
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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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de: P' l7 n& u& C+ L! E. \* S6 _

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4 ?4 {  G6 s8 B" ^  I9 Q& _rs238848.rs.hosteurope.deThe People's Liberation Army rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de: }# S% v5 z4 Y2 W' E7 I
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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6 |* j* M( |3 IVictoria 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 p4 i. Y% D5 D

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/ ?; y, F" i: S2 yMilton 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. . `. T  q% B* d( N+ U0 |' Z

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6 o& e' n# z- N. cWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover./ I( w/ y$ J) J0 B: ^

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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. ! c4 x6 J1 {; z
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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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