Exactly. Hong Kong is now part of the Mainland. Indirectly, Beijing is pulling the strings at CX. Sooner or later CX will be indistinguishable from the rest of the Mainland carriers; and there will be no shortage of ready, willing and able Chinese Air Force pilots to fly for food.
Curiously, no expats are queued up at Guangzhou-Baiyun to fly China Southern's 777s.