Cathay Jan Pieterszoon Coen to embark on an "unfortunate" (for the Dutch) policy of treating the Ming Empire as "merely another 'oriental' kingdom". The last nail into the coffin of the idea of there being a Cathay as a country separate from China was, perhaps, driven in 1654, when the Dutch Orientalist Jacobus Golius met with the China-based Jesuit Martino Martini, who was passing through Leyden. Golius knew no Chinese, but he was familiar with "Zij-i Ilkhani", a work by the Persian astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, completed in 1272, in which he described the Chinese ("Cathayan") calendar. Upon meeting Martini, Golius
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific temporarily took over Philippine Airlines's domestic and international operations during its fourteen-day shutdown (from 26 September – 7 October 1998). The airline was hurt by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, but recorded a record HK$5 billion profit in 2000. On Monday, 6 July 1998, at 00:00 HKT, Kai Tak International Airport saw its last commercial departure, Cathay Pacific Flight 251 (a Boeing 747-400) to London Heathrow Airport, after over 73 years of operation. The next day, Cathay Pacific Flight 889 (a Boeing 747-400 from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport piloted by Captain Paul