Demand for China
I can see the point of view of Virgin here. Ultimately would they not have operated a point-point service? I would presume so. And if so then they would have to have filled a plane to THAT destination.
The flights to HK and China that we have and will have will all offer onward connections so the flight may only be carrying a smallish number to HK or Beijing for example.
If we look at the flights to AUH and DOH in particular, I know from experience that they tend to carry only very small numbers to those destinations with the majority connecting on.
So the view of Virgin and the view of China based carriers is not the same even though they may be looking at the same origin and destination.