[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。人在德国 社区2 N3 b; v$ g) ]8 c9 D+ f! ]
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; D) l9 S" G: o9 Q7 ?  n  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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  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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July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.6 p+ G" e" Q" `
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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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6 y- s) [- R* j: c. }7 uMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health.
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The Expat Exodus
/ _. ^. N. @9 |0 `# A7 vOn 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. ' F$ I* c/ [$ L* o$ v

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Emigration 1 S# U" `- v& k
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de4 u' J9 d3 d% E6 P$ q1 ?
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+ n9 ?  D" I* h5 E6 g7 T0 y- r# a  《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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% U6 A( E2 r  F6 _( W: z; J  《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。+ ]! l& q0 s! o& @3 W

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The People's Liberation Army
# H1 Q% {# i% k1 mrs238848.rs.hosteurope.deA 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. & Z" d5 C. r( s# W
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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. 5 i$ g7 V; G* Z. O: E6 P/ D! q

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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. " L  l, v1 @* Z0 e( @- L
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4 L3 J% v0 w4 U: X) Q+ |0 E+ H+ c! ^With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.* ~( O5 R1 @; g- D+ V

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) ]% f& O7 W) X$ ~5 l' t+ n4 M; LHong 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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  K/ W4 N9 M1 Z人在德国 社区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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