Cathay Pacific’s majority shareholder pressed into condemning ‘violent’ Hong Kong protests
- Swire Pacific expressed strong backing for the Hong Kong government and the city’s police after senior executive visited Beijing on Monday
- It follows a report that a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Hong Kong was denied access to Chinese airspace under new regulations regarding the identity of flight crew, a report Cathay Pacific denied
Cathay Pacific found itself further caught up in Beijing’s resolve to restrict expressions of support for anti-government protests in Hong Kong after the majority shareholder of the flagship airline was pressed into issuing its most strongly worded statement to date supporting the city’s place in China.
The statement from Swire Pacific expressed strong backing for the Hong Kong government and the police, while also condemning the “violent behaviour” of protests as a threat to the “one country, two systems” legal agreement that underpins Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Cathay Pacific echoed its major shareholder Swire Pacific’s statement, stating it “strongly supported” the Hong Kong government.
It came as Swire Pacific chairman and executive director, Merlin Bingham Swire, was on an official visit to Beijing and amid reports that a Cathay Pacific flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Hong Kong, with no passengers on board, was denied entry into Chinese airspace on Monday because it had not provided the required information about the identities of the crew.
On Tuesday, Swire Pacific said that it “is deeply concerned by the ongoing violence and disruption impacting Hong Kong. We resolutely support the Hong Kong SAR government, the chief executive and the police in their efforts to restore law and order. We condemn all illegal activities and violent behaviour, which seriously undermine the fundamental principle of one country, two systems as enshrined in the Basic Law.”