My take on this is that it's a bug, but I admit I'm having a hard time quantifying it.
The first thing that tells me it's a bug is that the result is inconsistent between double-clicking the alias and dragging it to Safari in the dock.
If you double click the alias, you get the blank window. This, I believe, is because Safari is trying to read the alias file directly, rather than following the alias to the original file.
However, if you drag the alias' icon to Safari, Safari opens the target file as expected.
That's why I think it's a bug - one could expect the same result either way.
However, the problem is not limited to Safari. The exact same thing happens with Chrome and Firefox, which means it's not, specifically, Safari's fault.
My guess is that the problem lies in the browsers' handling of file types. There may be something buried in Apple's developer notes on the subject, but I'd have to go digging. In the short term, the only solution I can see is to drag your alias to your browser of choice rather than double-clicking it, and filing a bug report to get the official word.
