[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。0 c0 [+ Z9 o/ |2 `" h

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) w; q2 v5 Y" w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。$ d. B, j. `& l4 A

9 x* t: s- O7 f. h　　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。" W! I3 f# K) m! `/ |. d* @% I: k

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6 q- ~- g' S  G, I2 t人在德国 社区July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.& }- l9 d2 H: d, I2 `9 z
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& q9 B' i3 z" B& M/ n; [4 l; b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.- t$ z# M) R# u" F0 A4 I; ]- k2 X9 V
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+ ]- f" F3 u% }* b7 R0 W人在德国 社区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 & G* c, P5 i$ H* M: n( R/ R
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. 5.35.249.646 ?) |( {$ v6 H- E& M$ X! S5 _
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Emigration
7 N; q, |* f# a8 H5 T1 ^) UJittery 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。- k) c% e) @& |7 {

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The People's Liberation Army 人在德国 社区5 p1 o* P. r7 s+ x: y
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. 1 d* k1 y# B" ?0 {1 }
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' _8 B( H6 p. B! R5.35.249.64Victoria 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. * W2 K3 b9 e5 p- m; `& Y5 P7 N

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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.
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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.! s0 z; n3 S. x# [" f) ]
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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. ; {% j' u; Q3 ]& b6 t2 ~
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+ S0 |9 V0 r  x5 T2 \' ^1 ^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.