@final aspen email after this from the same person who sent me this following email that they are opening up the hiring again: Thank you for your email and my apologies for the late reply - the last couple of weeks have been very busy.
Please note that we have decided to pause the process of replacing x and y for the time being. This is more to give myself the time to better understand all the aspects of the HK office so I can work with our team in Phnom Penh to restructure some of what we do to then ensure that we have the optimal structure here in HK to do what we need to do.
Once I understand all this, I will be much better placed to define the role of our next team member and start the hiring process.
My apologies that this is not what you wish to hear but it is very important to me that I approach this in the correct manner and not rush into anything.
I hope you can understand and I wish you all the best in the job search. Once we are ready, I will of course get in touch with you, although, given what little I know of you from when we met, I am sure you will find an exciting new opportunity soon!