[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。/ A* P3 X. C% w: g

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; \4 v5 q4 U0 g; F; B! g# J8 t) X0 R人在德国 社区　　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% J; J4 N6 c& W
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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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1 ~+ K* D0 J" l# ^人在德国 社区July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.人在德国 社区  j- r9 m( i6 X' q8 v3 _

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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.人在德国 社区9 `. }) Y( I& O- h9 X4 Q& `

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& S- z( t' E& N1 KMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health.
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The Expat Exodus
, q5 c  ~! L4 SOn 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. 人在德国 社区$ l& y2 o" U) O: I0 T8 I

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8 O( Y* s6 j3 g4 z8 \3 P2 _人在德国 社区Emigration
0 Z! D& x% o' a$ T8 V# s7 ?Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 0 F. _% V6 h: q2 \5 s2 E
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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。$ r+ }; _) t! ^: r% k. k/ J

+ x" l) m+ O* C% j* E- r1 _" P　　《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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日月光

' K5 U0 Q# e- [The People's Liberation Army
1 D7 l3 m3 X/ Y* }  Q+ a; Trs238848.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.
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' x- N$ U9 q5 T5 zVictoria 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. # T& G" m# e3 ~
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4 O. |3 L6 V2 |) YMilton 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. * I7 W8 k9 m9 @9 X. u

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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.
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' a: m, v* X- d3 n! S) qHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 4 l1 Z& F9 w- B( U

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. R9 E7 S0 p# K* K7 srs238848.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.