Cathay’s bosses were informed by the mainland authorities that if they wanted their airline to continue flying over Chinese airspace – in short, if they wanted to remain in business – they had better begin policing their employees’ political opinions pronto. They had no choice but to comply, ritually sacrificing their chief executive officer (albeit by resignation rather than auto-da-fé) and quickly sacking a number of offending employees, including a union leader, reportedly fired for the political content of her social media posts.
Cathay employees complain about a “white terror”, and they have a good point. Frustrated by the legal freedoms Hongkongers enjoy, at least in theory, the approach the Communist Party is adopting in the face of the city’s anti-government protests is one of naked corporatism.
