[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。9 b% E5 l$ j3 o. e& ]% C

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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。! S7 t- U5 p1 S; 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。
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( ~+ D8 C& K# V; }, Jwww.csuchen.deJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.人在德国 社区: d% T: c, ?1 \- b0 l2 R- {

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) V2 C; R: o4 t# o$ s( C( ]人在德国 社区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# t5 X2 ~8 r( u1 @: p8 }! B

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March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 人在德国 社区' N! r) b2 J$ v
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% Q, \( i( x6 ]$ d2 N3 X: ^+ m人在德国 社区The Expat Exodus " U% Q# c3 {" n  W# u( j! P' f% Y
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
) x1 t$ h) P. ~8 [: N7 k7 r0 @7 O人在德国 社区Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. ) `/ O0 Y2 P2 D$ ]; m
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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。3 Y$ g% D& B1 S; Z3 M1 h3 U' b5 P
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The People's Liberation Army 人在德国 社区' u" M0 C8 r$ A% u% ~8 S
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.
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" v7 u" [7 \, v2 JVictoria 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. www.csuchen.de/ p) r: F' L4 ]8 K/ `" ?! M  @

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) v  b3 e2 J1 BMilton 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. 8 f& ~9 {2 r% C3 O; }' D  F

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% d5 i2 j4 _6 {+ d! yWith its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.) m9 F2 j& i- E1 V# [5 {& n

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  A+ O; Z$ S2 P( f) _人在德国 社区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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( w* X5 T# c% R  G9 {: I! _& R7 ?3 ewww.csuchen.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.