[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。
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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。3 [) x- @0 ]0 U: n" T: U
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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。9 g3 l1 X7 h, }" Y
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July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.- A/ W6 J# i% K) f' s+ ~

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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.3 Z3 |- T. q- t* l; n' G7 T
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" X) _& K: b+ j. C人在德国 社区March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. 人在德国 社区% R! ?8 Z) g: R7 X+ E

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6 j* t+ `7 ?# J. k" f8 V, u. G2 NThe Expat Exodus . {( L9 m3 v) w0 ]7 L
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. 人在德国 社区8 ]8 R" Y! J( b3 P* {3 y3 h

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& s7 m) M+ |2 o; s8 w" V3 l. e3 z; @人在德国 社区Emigration
- B/ @' A6 A  J5.35.249.64Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover.
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( H- i' }. q  g: p( n　　《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。( {4 E$ B! k7 U  D6 f4 q
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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。5.35.249.64* I( m8 q" E+ o3 F1 {: z

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日月光

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The People's Liberation Army
4 C8 [+ R& t, ^/ K7 q6 Y人在德国 社区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. 2 Y  l4 @& A6 d) S9 |" b& Q

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# S( U! k8 ]5 t( g3 @6 kVictoria 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. , s9 k! G3 ]4 _+ J. q
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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. 0 Q3 Z" S; t8 l3 i7 d  c

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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.
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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. 人在德国 社区3 {" `0 |3 ~: S8 e1 s

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# |: [2 B, A4 e9 U7 RContrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.