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。8 y! F& I& q3 Q: N
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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。. d9 y1 |; ^8 o8 y \$ p- s
2 d7 C% m' U1 ]8 Y0 ` 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。 + N ^- I+ ^0 I1 z: _! H 1 a! R' M1 x1 C) d6 _# e8 I0 B * {; x, a3 @2 ?# s$ i0 MJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.2 j$ y; H: q2 q9 }: a
b; Y) N# b5 r2 k5 z5 f8 o # `! |& Q& j2 K7 U+ p2 r% e# _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. - q. ^& k# h0 s- j4 E7 ]( [1 m $ d) b- ^5 d7 D4 I 1 R8 y% F& u# x9 } ! J8 N, Y6 K' |March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. / o% S% U) ~ t1 l7 f
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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. 2 i+ U1 L, Y7 \0 [. m # }! M4 c6 B! R+ K3 ~( A! @# _ ' {; ^5 R# _* L: T* [2 _ 1 g. I, O: C' s1 l' e1 F Emigration & v! N ~: |9 U8 D' d! p
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. " r% r/ `# j9 W% y+ W }9 A, ~* [
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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。 / A, A+ ^6 t4 |1 v 2 I8 q* E7 A/ \; d6 |- w. 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。0 I/ \6 t; a3 R- U0 j
8 g N$ |; d- u0 Q% u ~$ A 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
& S# j/ J& ]) r$ I2 jThe People's Liberation Army , b7 \6 S6 C; c0 m7 n& q
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. 8 C' S0 g7 F, i/ l
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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. % L1 |: l8 B5 ?7 l: ` N, d; I4 e4 [$ E/ W
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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. 6 C8 E1 P# U! s d3 J0 C; y6 X6 m l" ~ ; U7 o; ^; Z- Y' W( U8 R8 L ' Q2 M9 c5 W O- I( l. S: xWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.* M8 ?! Y- \6 I2 |$ |* p' ?
, g% C# B2 E$ b3 t+ D8 r1 ^ 0 K$ i/ q1 i& G- r8 V" J) C3 CHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. 6 ~: T+ X# ?5 i5 w6 j( o# R3 ~4 b6 q! |( \
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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.
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