[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。人在德国 社区+ s2 x9 ]9 S6 y. o
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; N2 D  X' O, `$ _　　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% k' D# t) k$ j
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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。2 b8 `% ~" d/ ~* l3 H& b
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1 P- V3 C' P  @' Q/ H$ R- f( i人在德国 社区July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.
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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.rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de) T$ ?% p8 `1 C
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; ~5 }7 Z; H% I' I7 M1 [9 ]人在德国 社区March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health.
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% i+ e8 C* X9 N8 \% aThe Expat Exodus 人在德国 社区3 Q) Y4 r" H% B4 w8 V
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 rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de) H0 U; z# s0 S+ v2 y* h' s
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. # T: S( r; E$ g) l3 U" N
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8 o& ?5 d) {& i5 c　　《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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, P* W3 Z6 `4 e3 n　　《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。: O4 z8 U' U. }6 h6 `* x/ o& Y

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The People's Liberation Army
7 ^5 {5 _- S( b  LA 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.   v0 T) q! j9 z0 P. A
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6 v$ k) n# V* v( _# a- J3 f% @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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9 @. }6 Y/ {" m- i$ x' Y, K/ D" \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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With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.- t5 G$ d5 {& V) I# X  O) x

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Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 9 u4 }) S3 }# ?: h0 E  T3 E2 h$ E$ P
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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.