[国际新闻] 《时代》25页篇幅认错：回归没令香港死亡

日月光

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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3 A& u! x* u0 n% y6 V  ~6 R! F( V　　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; e: Q# T5 {$ d* \4 s

1 _4 h; I" u$ K& C) m- 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。人在德国 社区0 I& Q" g+ Y2 V- A, ?. E3 z# X0 b
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2 v0 \6 T3 b6 m( tJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.- v; }1 j4 o2 k$ A4 E; P

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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.6 Y" Y' }) Q) j& p$ @2 N5 I" B

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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. * A4 L# m  }: Y# [! [/ X
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The Expat Exodus rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de$ w+ u* o& ^) Y* O6 x
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 2 @/ a/ j) ?9 U2 o
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover.
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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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de! s$ X. W  D2 o" q5 v
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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。2 R1 J7 K+ U- y4 T3 C
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日月光

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The People's Liberation Army * z, G6 a; M' }0 Q* X. _7 O; x
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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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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) R/ k0 l+ I, F/ b; `& ?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. ) i1 |6 o/ \: ~- {1 o" K

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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.* _& A: t& B5 u9 P4 j. c( C  f

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5 f2 O) A& s& K  ]Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. . ~# ]4 E$ I" O# S" C3 s2 h# p0 _5 ^) D
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" @" @3 ^1 X; S# H* i0 Ers238848.rs.hosteurope.deContrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.