Cathay Pacific crisis ushers in nervous new era for Hong Kong Inc

July 28, Hong Kong police arrested 17 people for their alleged participation in a riot in the territory’s premier business district. Those arrested included students, chefs, clerks, a teacher, a nurse and, fatefully for Hong Kong’s corporate sector, a young pilot for Cathay Pacific Airways. Within 2 weeks the chance arrest of Liu Chung-yin, 30, whose arraignment is pending, had plunged his employer into the biggest political crisis since its establishment in 1946 and shaken relations between Hong Kong’s business community and China’s ruling Communist party in Beijing. Aug 9, China’s aviation regulator accused management at Hong Kong’s de facto flag carrier and its controlling shareholder, Swire Pacific, of not acting quickly enough to discipline Liu and other employees alleged to have participated in illegal or violent protests. <br/>