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。 R* V/ P6 _' b2 L$ D1 M
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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。 ; y6 {- c3 s7 m& H) [1 r! b . \- g8 k/ U2 s" F) L% W 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。' K! {% v8 M5 W- E% E
5 ?' F+ G2 u( [) p , ?8 q/ ?6 t7 [3 m! c5 u8 EJuly 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.2 j# P7 r4 G$ p. u7 l" y; _" t
4 _1 A1 A& L. U+ d C6 R) H $ H! [' ^' y* i; XFeb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.' V7 y! C0 |9 _" d& u2 X2 R
; l& P: c2 J. x' K i/ q. x- \# I* m6 m% u. l) j 7 U: a' V: I3 `$ Q8 WMarch 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. * @# U% ?0 z2 c/ f7 Z& v# ~5 ^" J. Z i2 L$ m . v" K& O R- ?* B The Expat Exodus , {7 ^; B/ D1 w' t; |6 B8 bOn 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. : l4 c; q$ |2 F% I
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. P9 @% {) |$ s. D% D" ?/ ^ % T4 o% x# b' s8 z6 _! u% c' ?) ^Emigration 7 f4 c* K- [7 ~7 z" ?- _Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. " d* D, b" ]6 S" f K " H8 ~. C) {4 s8 q9 Z+ A' H ) N; h9 A8 t, u! ^+ c 《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。3 _9 S }- T5 b9 q: ~& R
7 A) q2 K; [4 k7 G7 S 《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。 h. H+ i0 R- }# c* H0 z
$ ^5 d4 Z7 \6 d% k4 {3 L! d 作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-6-9 08:41
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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. % k3 s! |1 T* u3 z8 i+ z 8 ^% s3 n0 c5 Q" ?6 J! R( F& z5 o& o, T/ m6 H " @7 P" E) R2 `# ^4 c2 d# 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. 1 }5 C% J/ m4 F: Y/ u : J. R& P5 K/ p/ ^. a, {8 m3 T7 Z" Y8 [+ v" P) ~ 8 U) b4 r; [+ e
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. , T" L( n; K$ `5 Z$ q0 H h4 X. c/ z: p. p 1 T) t6 [6 ~5 U: \: a9 n8 R' S7 p2 \! E7 }( m0 u8 n1 V
With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.+ p* L* V* Q7 [4 S* ~1 w
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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. 5 h6 c q& y/ D0 y1 Z
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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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