No it’s not a free market. Just as no Hong Kong airline can set up a foreign controlled international airline in Australia, neither can a foreign airline do the same in Hong Kong.
You had best tell SQ, AirNZ and EY that I'm sure they'll be interested. You should also tell Swire Group that as well. I'm really interested what material difference there is between an ownership structure like CX's parent company has compared to the proposed Jetstar HK ownership structure.
Like Alan Joyce said, if the same rules were applied to everyone, CX and KA would be shut down tomorrow.