[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。- C4 N/ @2 o( ^1 B3 ]1 G

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1 a2 L3 @$ n. I1 A% x+ w  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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! d8 H+ R& Y) D) ]) [  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.de; {2 K, Q. p% [5 b$ [' v' L

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July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.1 m7 U. C$ X6 T: p6 l1 j0 Q! n
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6 p1 y; x" U8 K1 `- ]! ^: q6 \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.
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The Expat Exodus
5 s9 c  b. u0 J( J* ~- p* E0 eOn 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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4 [$ U6 s8 V% ?9 iEmigration
# Q5 I. z" Q6 E- T3 B* q/ m* N2 h' |rs238848.rs.hosteurope.deJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. + J. B3 D; \- h9 i3 G( h" d  Y  `

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  《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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+ {/ h8 ?3 x6 l4 h9 ]8 e人在德国 社区  《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。: t- R" E! \; j

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# b; w/ B9 A" I4 N6 b9 ~人在德国 社区The People's Liberation Army
% J/ x; V/ e) L: z* Z$ K" P2 VA 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. 7 U; v# v9 ]. n

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" F( ^) v: v% y, ?rs238848.rs.hosteurope.deVictoria 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. : N1 b: J. \' @" T% [: |) H0 ~: y
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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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5 |; k9 A3 q( B" C7 RWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.: w* u. w9 \7 W
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8 c6 ]4 w* x8 pHong 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.

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