Pilots and cabin crew at Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways described a “white terror” of political denunciations, sackings and phone searches by Chinese aviation officials amid anti-government protests gripping the former British colony. Cathay, founded by an American and an Australian during British rule in 1946, was caught in the middle of the crisis 11 days ago, when China demanded it suspend staff involved in the protest movement.
The firm agreed, firing two pilots, but has since been plunged into turmoil after CEO Rupert Hogg was replaced last week. Another pilot, Jeremy Tam, who is also a pro-democracy lawmaker, said on Tuesday that he and others had quit the airline as the internal political pressure was intolerable. “That (China’s aviation regulator) has reached into Hong Kong and directly pressured a local airline is undoubtedly ‘white terror’,” he wrote on his Facebook page, using a popular Hong Kong expression used to describe anonymous acts that create a climate of fear.
The firm agreed, firing two pilots, but has since been plunged into turmoil after CEO Rupert Hogg was replaced last week. Another pilot, Jeremy Tam, who is also a pro-democracy lawmaker, said on Tuesday that he and others had quit the airline as the internal political pressure was intolerable. “That (China’s aviation regulator) has reached into Hong Kong and directly pressured a local airline is undoubtedly ‘white terror’,” he wrote on his Facebook page, using a popular Hong Kong expression used to describe anonymous acts that create a climate of fear.
