[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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de. z! u& `/ R# S, T

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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。4 U7 B( f" ]5 z& K( P6 L5 l

& n# Z7 _' d6 [) @! {) E人在德国 社区　　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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  ^/ h$ p. V8 ]' M/ m; b9 LJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.人在德国 社区; L( d  T% `; n( {2 d
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& T, F/ t8 I! g! k' w7 }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.人在德国 社区) f! e+ t3 `( N8 ?& D% S

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0 ^+ z# z, A( Y! _& l# K9 D  HMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health.
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1 Q4 Z: }2 d2 j  Z/ Q( p8 D3 \rs238848.rs.hosteurope.deThe Expat Exodus * v) c7 C1 R  _+ g# p& T8 ~8 ^
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
) z, r! f7 Q% m: g3 V4 l% OJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. & x9 y/ B1 v  K4 S" S7 a( s

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6 t# B, T7 ?) k  B4 Q+ F　　《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。! ^) q0 M* u. G' `

- L! v7 m" e2 t" n; n1 g1 Y　　《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。* @$ ]9 [# M8 i3 @5 F1 F+ z
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日月光

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The People's Liberation Army 5 X7 E  x: F: ~
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% @- R* o- w7 E- j1 f
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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.
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6 m8 F- q9 Q- i6 d7 Grs238848.rs.hosteurope.deMilton 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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7 ]0 O4 K$ D9 @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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! y0 }7 j$ I; w0 HHong 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.