* E, h* T8 Y/ `; N* Q+ K 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。 " y- u% @8 f- R# Z0 X; w2 b# n5 X # P( ~+ B, j: d8 j. S " _# H, ~& J% M6 u UJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.- A* f t$ Q/ v2 O, R' I
+ O% N( K, T, u. L) g9 L: `% _ 2 S* H2 }: |4 |) Z 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.* m4 V& I* a% e* B0 V, V7 W
: D) Z5 t3 J, ?) v$ E- ?0 h1 f* b% M+ }" S% i j G( M/ T F$ ~3 f March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. " F9 y* Z( t2 \) _
4 j/ K- W# W5 S6 |9 ` 2 r! R3 ^6 H9 J, h7 W) uThe Expat Exodus D8 Z5 m) z# U2 {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. ; c, M8 n4 L4 E) I, o7 Y ) c! j- L; }4 {5 w# M
; {4 Y- C8 D1 ? ~ & T' Z: W) B+ ?. n& ~Emigration # F& Q, t- |3 p. o1 }Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. ; O( l% o1 J3 G! W; M* p2 P ( ?% E) q. o! h0 B# l* t
# q* Q- U2 p; A1 s 《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。. c4 s/ \+ M2 B) j4 p2 j& f
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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 _4 O+ k. s3 a3 J/ U8 C, Z
w0 U) g& |+ H7 U The People's Liberation Army * p" U( C" X2 G! _3 P( I
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. . v. r1 P. z& B. C 3 D# O: E! h) D! Y" B6 B 1 H7 E: Y- w9 p p3 z+ g( r' b; P. ?# s' G4 b1 [" [3 ]' X
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. ! c* M5 T' Y7 O% y3 a0 R$ A# r! ]1 c7 m" C. @& F2 t$ r+ J$ ~
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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 a' V) `. ^1 v/ d7 f. n1 j& r, c" v- u! v, D
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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. ' T" G& w# L$ o& }" N+ w5 Z7 g7 O# k: Y / |( a u h8 b; H0 B5 Z; V7 B1 E6 y' qHong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. & p# {* a3 T3 O& W: C8 a% A5 U! x 7 R2 J4 [3 p# S. c D( u1 C $ ]) K1 K/ D- W# E: r* t9 N& c5 u( h7 T7 d; E2 A
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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