I wouldn't be surprised if Air Malta now pull out of MAN on a scheduled basis, given how much capacity there is on MAN-MLA. Surprised it's lasted this long to be honest.
In terms of China, I'm in the firm belief the route will be a Chinese operator, I can't see Mr Xi making such a big deal over a UK carrier, particularly if it was a token TCX low frequency schedule.
And, as I've said, given CA is the national carrier of China, Mr Xi surely has reason to promote that over the private enterprise of Hainan.