Curry Lamb
If you go the extreme conspiracy theory, this might be the beginning of ousting most western expats out of HK...they won't completely eliminate westerners, just as they allow westerners in SZ, Shanghai and Beijing in many industries... But once they oust many of the westerners this round, when the next 'boom' comes, Cathay and other companies like banks etc need to hire staff from overseas, they will be told to prove they can't find people from the North first....
Very true, what is wrong with that? At best Hong Kong. in time, might be considered as a colony of China, otherwise a mere province of China, unlike the French who habitually nationalised their most juicy colonies.