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China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

economist.com

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Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#41

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

llIIlIlIllIIlIl wrote: post #33

> When the Chinese aviation authority, absurdly, accused the airline of imperilling safety because its employees had joined the protests, Cathay dumped its chief executive. Question: Is there even remotely a legitimate security concern here? Let's say in a hypothetical scenario, the unrest spirals out of control into a state of complete desperation. The HK government and the CCP refuse to compromise on any of the fiv…

No, that's not a remotely legitimate security concern. The pilot is not politicized just because some people employed by her company are protesting. Even if she were politicized, what's she going to do, crash the plane?

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#42

Post by PhasmaFelis »

wbl wrote: post #20
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re a Hong Kong resident, what are your options? Can you flee the country with a visa to a first world country with rights less under pressure from a totalitarian state? Edit: I genuinely appreciate all of the replies to this comment as this humanitarian crisis unfolds.

Visa free travel to the US. The situation isn't that desparate yet. But I fully expect this President will toss them back into the jaws of tyranny.

Yeah, the US is cracking down hard on asylum rights. There's been a lot of people in dire conditions--fleeing human trafficking or government oppression--turned away from the southern border and sent home in danger of their lives, because they don't check all the boxes on the extremely narrow definition that ICE is using now.

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#43

Post by eli_gottlieb »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #13
erikpukinskis wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No disagreements with your base assessment, but how did the west create this situation? China has a longer continuous timeline than the western powers by far. Are the current political moires there not another node on that chain?

I won't say "the west" because I think it's really "capitalism", but Global capitalism created this situation by deepening trade relationships with China to the point that we're all dependent on them to the point that there's very little leverage over their international behaviour. Look at how the PRC is behaving against Canada right now. Illegal torture-like detention of two of innocent Canadian citizens in China, i…

That is absolute bullshit. If Western countries had refused to trade with China for human-rights reasons, we'd be hearing accusations of economic imperialism! Now we're responsible for their ultra-nationalist authoritarian capitalism because we don't impose our imperial authority on them?

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#44

Post by llIIlIlIllIIlIl »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #41
llIIlIlIllIIlIl wrote: post #33

> When the Chinese aviation authority, absurdly, accused the airline of imperilling safety because its employees had joined the protests, Cathay dumped its chief executive. Question: Is there even remotely a legitimate security concern here? Let's say in a hypothetical scenario, the unrest spirals out of control into a state of complete desperation. The HK government and the CCP refuse to compromise on any of the fiv…

No, that's not a remotely legitimate security concern. The pilot is not politicized just because some people employed by her company are protesting. Even if she were politicized, what's she going to do, crash the plane?

It could be disinformation, but I've read that some Cathay pilots and cabin crew were reprimanded for participating in the protests.

Also, I don't necessarily mean a terrorist incident. Any kerfuffle at 35,000ft would be enough grounds to turn an airplane around and land it at the nearest runway as per standard safety practices.

With HK-mainland tensions at an all time high, I don't think this can be completely ruled out.

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#45

Post by arcticbull »

johnzim wrote: post #26
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re a Hong Kong resident, what are your options? Can you flee the country with a visa to a first world country with rights less under pressure from a totalitarian state? Edit: I genuinely appreciate all of the replies to this comment as this humanitarian crisis unfolds.

In the early 90s many countries started opening up pathways for HK citizens fearing this - there was a lot of talk of "Brain Drain" in HK. Canada in particular did a great job of encouraging emigration. These days it's a little harder. The classic "HK passport" is the BNO - British Nationality Overseas which doesn't give you right of abode in the UK because racism. Asylum is also extremely difficult to achieve - you'…

45% of Vancouver is of Asian descent, and 30% of Vancouver is Chinese, many of whom are HK expats. 500,000 folks of HK descent live in Canada (1.5% of Canada). There's another 300,000 Canadian passport holders living in HK. It'll be very interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years.

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#46

Post by spacehunt »

idlewords wrote: post #36

China is applying a lot of pressure on Hong Kongers right now, including searching devices at the border for any signs of protest photos. The Hong Kong police have requested Octopus card records (the mass transit card that is linked to individual user IDs) and CCTV footage of the airport protests last week. There is evidence of information sharing between Hong Kong police and mainland authorities. The implied threat…

It's the Cultural Revolution-era "us-versus-them" tactic. You either fall in line, or you are the enemy of the people.

https://medium.com/@pnolan20/lets-stop-the-us-versus-them-co...

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#47

Post by AFascistWorld »

parliament32 wrote: post #30
nh wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does outline work? how do they get around the login feature

If they told you that, the target sites would find a way to block it. Obscurity is just another weapon in this advertising-and-bloat-blocking arms race.

Actually it's hard to block them, since they just need to cache every new article once, and you can't block a user just coz he accessed every new article.

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#48

Post by mytailorisrich »

I don't know if this is a coincidence but Cathay Pacific is symbolic of colonial times.

The founders were not Chinese, the main shareholder has always been British, the CEO until a week ago was British. It's always been a western (anglosphere) company operating in China/Asia, not a Chinese company and perhaps the Chinese authorities want to make clear that it is now a Chinese company.

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#49

Post by theseadroid »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #34
theseadroid wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HK allows dual citizenship and there are around 300,000 Canadians living in HK right now[1]. Not sure about other nationalities. And I think HK passport can go to many countries visa free or visa on arrival[2]. So in a sense many protesters do have a plan b if needed. 1. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/unrest-in-hong-kong-fue... 2. https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/service/travel_document/visa_fre...

The protesters are more working class than the richer HKers with multiple passports. Sure, they can leave, but it is much harder for them to establish themselves in a new country. They can buy a plane ticket, but then what?

I'm not saying it's easy, but it's better than not having the option right? Many HKers have done this during the 90s when HK became part of China.

Re: China’s assault on Cathay Pacific

#50

Post by alteria »

llIIlIlIllIIlIl wrote: post #44
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that's not a remotely legitimate security concern. The pilot is not politicized just because some people employed by her company are protesting. Even if she were politicized, what's she going to do, crash the plane?

It could be disinformation, but I've read that some Cathay pilots and cabin crew were reprimanded for participating in the protests. Also, I don't necessarily mean a terrorist incident. Any kerfuffle at 35,000ft would be enough grounds to turn an airplane around and land it at the nearest runway as per standard safety practices. With HK-mainland tensions at an all time high, I don't think this can be completely ruled…

What kind of incident are you imagining happening on a plane, and is participation in the protest a reliable indicator for the likelihood of it?
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