OK, so it was clearly bollocks:

“There is no truth to this. Cathay Pacific is a founding member of oneworld and we are committed to the development and growth of this alliance”

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalk...ld-commitment/

Nevertheless:

- OW needs a mainland Chinese carrier;
- the most significant unaligned mainland Chinese carrier is Hainan;
- Hainan with Hong Kong Express competes directly on CX's home turf

Irresistable force, meet immovable object.