I'm always a bit suspicous when the "can't pay for fuel" rumours start, as these seem to be a popular choice when people at rival airlines (or elsewhere) want to start some
FUD floating around.
Obviously in this situation an aircraft did an air return and was subsequently out of position. Not being able to pay for fuel was obviously not the cause of the air return. So if someone somewhere (even supposing it was in fact suggested in the HK media) is linking any cancellations surrouding this to the ability to pay for fuel, well, smells like FUD.