[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。5.35.249.64! H6 {& t9 S) E' j4 t7 C5 A
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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。
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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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July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.5.35.249.642 P, c, g# i5 O& F0 I3 s  E$ o
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9 w, I. }  W8 l+ \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.( [0 s5 |/ ]" S8 g3 e& w0 O
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1 z1 t- f5 M" @5.35.249.64March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. % s: [- D7 `3 ?6 a' V
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The Expat Exodus
' D+ y# d2 N7 W* @6 g5.35.249.64On 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
. P9 E: L$ i0 e7 mJittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. 8 n5 y. Z+ W; i8 W
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1 U9 b1 p6 j  Z) `2 f% Z4 |　　《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( z+ w" o( `! N& o3 w  R

3 v& [( d! m6 l0 ?5.35.249.64　　《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。
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日月光

6 k) q* ^3 d  g; G8 `2 {$ AThe People's Liberation Army
: Y4 Z3 p+ `! n3 d  z, E: FA 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. / R0 U0 p3 O! `) o4 Q( o
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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. 1 Y# X0 b! s3 A2 `6 P6 P6 a/ w
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7 {: f( I* p% e3 lMilton 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.6 f, B  V" W; T3 z! c2 h, v
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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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! e7 e9 W+ }, S6 i+ k6 z' IContrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.