Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific yesterday warned staff that they could be fired for supporting “illegal protests,” as it came under pressure from Beijing over pro-democracy demonstrations in the territory.
The flagship carrier’s stock plunged more than 4 percent in Hong Kong trade yesterday, after Beijing imposed new rules banning airline staff involved in the Hong Kong protests from flights to or over China.
The airline last week canceled more than 150 flights as a result of a strike linked to the unrest and bookings have dropped since the protest movement began 10 weeks ago.
Cathay has struggled to find middle ground in the increasing bitter standoff between protesters in Hong Kong and local authorities.
Chief executive Rupert Hogg told staff that they could be fired if they participated in, or even supported, “illegal protests.”
“Cathay Pacific Group has a zero tolerance approach to illegal activities,” he wrote in a message sent to the company’s employees.
“Specifically, in the current context, there will be disciplinary consequences for employees who support or participate in illegal protests,” he said.
“These consequences could be serious and may include termination of employment,” Hogg said.
Cathay has come under fire from authorities and residents in China who accuse it of allowing staff to participate in illegal activities.
It has also been the subject of a boycott call on social media, fueled by articles from the powerful state media.
A #BoycottCathayPacific thread on Weibo last week attracted more than 17 million views and 8,000 comments.
Cathay has already suspended a pilot accused of rioting after allegedly participating in protests.
On Saturday, it said it had also fired two ground staff, without specifying why.
Media reported that they were accused of leaking the travel details of a Hong Kong police soccer team that was traveling to China.
The airline is subject to new regulations announced last week by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
The rules require the airline to submit manifests of staff working on flights going to China or through its airspace.
They ban any staff member accused of involvement in “illegal protests” from working on those flights, with authorities saying that airplanes could be prevented from landing if they fail to comply.
The rules came into effect on Sunday, and the regulator has demanded Cathay submit a report before Thursday on planned measures to “strengthen internal control and improve flight safety and security.”
Hogg said in an earlier message to staff that the airline was obliged to comply with the new CAAC regulations.
“Cathay Pacific Group’s operations in mainland China are key to our business,” he wrote. “We are therefore legally required to follow CAAC regulations and, as is the case with any notices issued by any regulatory authority having jurisdiction over us, we must and will comply.”
Cathay appears to have become a target of Beijing’s ire in part because some of its crew joined protests, including at the airport.
Hogg specifically warned employees not to join actions being staged at the airport, where protesters gathered again yesterday.
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
Former Chinese ministers of national defense Wei Fenghe(魏鳳和) and Li Shangfu (李尚福) were both sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve over graft charges, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday, underscoring the severity of the purge in the military. The armed forces have been one of the main targets of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) after coming to power in 2012. The purges reached the elite Rocket Force, which oversees nuclear weapons as well as conventional missiles, in 2023. Earlier this year they escalated further, resulting in the removal of the top general in
‘PERSONAL MISTAKES’: Eileen Wang has agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison A southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government and has resigned from her city position, officials said on Monday. Eileen Wang (王愛琳), mayor of Arcadia, was charged last month with one count of acting in the US as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favorable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law. The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected
IN PROTECTION: Video released by the Senate showed Ronald dela Rosa being chased through the halls of the upper chamber, pursued by National Bureau of Investigation officers Philippine authorities on Monday said that they would not arrest for now a lawmaker wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, capping a lengthy Senate standoff. Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who served as police chief and Duterte’s top enforcer during the bloody drug crackdown, would be treated as if in the custody of the Senate, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag told reporters after the politician had taken refuge in the legislative building. “We respect that they are a co-equal branch,” Matibag said after the Senate refused
RSS