I look at this, from the outside, and I see many similarities between this situation and Australian aviation n 1989.
There are pilots in HK saying 'Don't come here' but at the same time accepting upgrades. I took that from a previous post, so if it's incorrect, don't bother reading any further.
In Oz in 1989, we had captains saying you'll be a $cab if you join an airline, but they were going off taking commands in far flung parts of the world, over local FO's who became bitter. But, and here's the rub, they were quite open in saying that they were only there till they could get back to Australia in their previous positions. History reveals that they're still waiting, but that's another story.
Now this could be categorized as hypocrisy.
I saw in a previous post that many C & T guys are union members, and the veiled threat was there that you wouldn't pass a check if you joined now.
These threats have all been made before down in Australia in 1989. I could see CX mgt sacking a checkie if he played a hard line on political grounds, and he'd deserve it. If he can't separate politics and a pilot's ability, he shouldn't be there in the first place.
What CX pilots should/must realize is that they can't draw people who wan to join the company into a brawl that just doesn't concern them, and was pre-existing.