It's not the nationality as much as it's where a pilot has been culturally raised and where they have their training. I identified three countries where cultural rules of order with a sense of openness, questioning authority if it is wrong, good English, many decades of long haul experience, and solid training of their pilots - ie pilot professionalism - are well known. Cathay probably recruit from these countries for that reason, and I am sure that Emirates does too.

The Airbus just isn't the same aircraft as the Boeing, even at Direct Law or Emergency Law. Without going through the differences and advantages of the speed stable trim of the Boeing FBW vs the altitude stable trim of the Airbus FBW, or the critical flight data displays, or even the Airbus HAL-9000 vs the Boeing Pilot Command Authority, there are visual and design aspects to the Boeing cockpit that give it an advantage over the Airbus (which may pilots argue was critical in the demise of AF447). Boeing pilots or pilots trained on the older Embraers, Douglasses etc, tend on average to have a lot more hands on stick time and skills too.

Hong Kong suits me a lot more than Dubai, so it's a shame I won't be flying on one of these.