The Chinese management within Dragonair tolerate expat pilots as they provide the necessary workforce to do the job at the moment. However they are looking to localise the pilot force as soon as possible and have started up a cadet pilot scheme to do just that.
There is still a need for expat pilots but their days are numbered and they are now only taken on on a B scale salary basis. Although this compares quite favourably with the UK on a direct exchange basis it is quite poor for the rather high cost of living in Hong Kong.