[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。: v  N- V  P1 O. E. n- t
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) E6 J4 Q% _& t4 [" U+ K2 r　　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。+ G# R: \( o* {# t. u
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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。rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de; z! j$ \% G. _

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& y: y7 P, N4 LJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.人在德国 社区* ?7 A8 t5 j$ e* ?/ `

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3 b& G$ f- g1 a* gFeb. 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- ^0 P: o4 S% E0 U- F& ?$ U
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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 人在德国 社区: U& [& c/ y/ o; }1 Q
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: U) s3 L" Z6 k1 Z& uThe Expat Exodus 人在德国 社区+ D% n+ Y. t, E9 e( ?8 C: }
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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& P) {/ ?2 g" {! F" FEmigration
4 t/ C! a- I0 a7 cJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover.
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: M$ J$ V) M- G1 J" z5 C; B' ~　　《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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　　《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。, @- @' R0 D% I' k- Q" ^( S

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8 s. c5 z5 c( J' b+ A0 h人在德国 社区The People's Liberation Army
$ w) H+ ~: c8 |2 P1 D. w! q人在德国 社区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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( m5 l  ?( @/ {: OVictoria 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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9 \! x( L+ o) \+ UMilton 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. / e" N5 k; L, R' V- ]% \, o' s
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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.人在德国 社区  |0 W$ e$ @9 K* E+ `' t

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5 o, c, n% e7 |Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 人在德国 社区4 w# [% n4 M& I- P9 x4 k; B

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9 y3 N2 @6 n( s. zrs238848.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.