[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。人在德国 社区" _* |8 b2 ?4 ?$ W. l1 y

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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。0 _3 ~* E$ B2 {  x
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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。www.csuchen.de. l$ Q3 Z4 l8 i6 y/ c

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. N/ I& i! l$ e6 i* E- R  Iwww.csuchen.deJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.
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' B' t% @+ ]* Y& R5 Q, AFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.+ v7 d3 N, r" S
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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health.
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The Expat Exodus
+ ~+ x9 c7 x5 o9 N  l. E8 r0 A& oOn 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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& Y5 U. e" E0 o  r; a0 |Emigration
  c1 P6 q5 }/ g( B: i! E/ K: V+ r4 iJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover.
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  b  X( S7 X2 x4 k0 `人在德国 社区　　《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。人在德国 社区1 T' E( I( N' `* q% T6 e9 v+ C( @3 P6 y

+ ^- F0 I2 O3 p5 \, }人在德国 社区　　《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。8 }, t" T! S4 @- q; C2 T
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日月光

8 f, j4 w) k+ q) t, y$ oThe People's Liberation Army 3 u) D5 x/ Z& L# d- a0 |
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. 7 f5 L* }4 p0 b, T5 h3 C1 @

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* C8 m: E9 b. h1 ]人在德国 社区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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; b+ h+ v/ \) Z/ k2 jMilton 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.   J# t& g: w# I8 s
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, E6 a% y) @  C" A1 d2 |1 R/ VWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.# H( Y2 G6 `/ q6 a# v. P: G- g6 H
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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.
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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.