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Many Cathay Pacific employees are afraid to work on flights to mainland China,
the BBC reports based on confidential conversations. They fear being arrested
for their support for the Hong Kong protests.
 
Some cabin crew members and pilots who are scheduled on these flights do not,
therefore, consider taking their actual telephone with them in case it is
searched. They also change their social media from statements that can be
viewed negatively by the Chinese regime and do not talk about politics during
working hours.
 
In addition to a possible arrest, the employees fear for their own job. Cathay
Pacific recently succumbed to the heavy Chinese pressure and fired some pilots
and ground workers for participating in "illegal" protests against China's
growing influence in Hong Kong. Since then, according to the staff, a fear
culture has prevailed within the company.
 
Background
 
Initially, Cathay Pacific did not want to take sides in the conflict between
the protesters and the Chinese regime. According to the management, the
political preference of employees was a private matter and participation in
the protests in Hong Kong that have been going on for months now was not a
reason for dismissal.
 
China was furious about this and therefore prohibited the company from using
demonstrators for flights to mainland China any longer (the part of the
country that falls directly under the communist regime). The personnel lists
for flights to or across China were also to be shared with the authorities
from now on.
 
If Cathay did not cooperate, the airline would be banned from flying.
According to unconfirmed reports from Asian media, chief executive Rupert Hogg
was not impressed and submitted a list to the Chinese authorities with only
his own name on it. Shortly thereafter he was forced to resign.

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