Culture plays a large part in determining pilot competency and I don't mean just the ability to do a smooth landing on autopilot and two hands on the wheel..
No doubt about that. But then again, in such companies, the entire pilot body would be judged according to that "culture", and the discrepancy in abilities between DE and cadet entry pilots would not exist because everyone is looked at in the same way. Which is in terms of ability to do other things aside from pressing the autopilot...
So in the terms of those Asian airlines, you could blame the company culture for poor competency, and not the lack of hours in the logbook of a new cadet-entry F/O.