[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。" A! c: g9 [* W
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1 \9 [( _! ?4 L) E- ^5 ]+ irs238848.rs.hosteurope.de  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。5 \1 m- J0 {2 X7 Z$ }

: `; _0 ~: ?1 @+ v& p4 m- p  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。' q. o1 m3 R3 X" `& r
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9 p$ v# ]4 u; W+ T' C0 {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.) U1 t+ J4 w; O

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" m2 {% J- a4 v4 e8 K) hMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. . R) D2 h' X4 r- \1 P0 n
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The Expat Exodus
; Y/ V7 |0 a$ o! g) F* nOn 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. 2 h: _5 @& Y! [5 K1 o

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Emigration # i7 p; h9 z% C3 m+ L- n9 o/ r
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。
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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。
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The People's Liberation Army
9 z% r# R8 `+ O1 k# R( BA 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. 人在德国 社区" ]) o5 q* S+ ~5 s( E/ X: @% A$ q

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/ w9 }/ I5 }$ o2 W9 uVictoria 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. 人在德国 社区$ Y6 x7 i* d; j

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7 ]7 T1 ^+ C! X1 W7 c0 trs238848.rs.hosteurope.deMilton 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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" D% V, b1 F1 O) _$ M7 JWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.2 U+ f: ^9 A4 y4 C$ f1 \# A
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. x) {, Q3 x0 W1 s4 i& UHong 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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+ h3 F8 e3 e+ t( {2 s9 u2 B3 H2 bContrary 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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