2019-08-26 Bloomberg Businessweek

12

BloombergBusinessweek August 26, 2019

Editedby

JamesE.Ellis

Inthe1990s,asBritainwaspreparingtohand

overHongKongtoChina,AdrianSwirewaswor-

ried.ThechairmanoftheSwirebusinessempire

basedinthelongtimeBritishcolonywascon-

cernedthatitsCathayPacificAirwaysLtd.could

losetrafficrightsonceChinatookchargein1997.

Hedecidedtomakea deal:allowChinese-owned

enterprisestoincreasea stakeinCathaytoensure

friendlytieswithBeijing,accordingtohissince-

declassified correspondence with John Major,

U.K. prime minister at the time, and his govern-

ment. State-owned Air China Ltd. is currently the

carrier’s second-biggest shareholder after Swire.

Today, after months of protests that have wid-

ened the divide between the semiautonomous

region’s residents and the central government in

Beijing, Swire’s 45-year-old son, Merlin, now chair-

man of the group’s publicly traded Swire Pacific

Ltd., finds himself in a similar quandary. After some

of the carrier’s more than 32,000 employees joined

the protests, China’s aviation authority made clear

government officials’ displeasure with what they

saw as a possible threat to aviation safety. Chinese

officials called for some Cathay workers who had

B U S I N E S S

A Cautionary Tale

China’s crackdown on Cathay Pacific over Hong Kong

protests sends a chilling message to other businesses