I now feel compelled to throw in the towel on this issue. My earlier assertion that the Chinese couldn't possibly do anything so high tech during the hour it takes them to issue visas these days was based on my experiences at Chinese consulates abroad and PSBs/border control in country. I simply have a hard time believing that people who have such a loose grasp of the policies they are charged with implementing are doing anything that sexy. That having been said, I have no idea: 1) what pops up when they scan my passport; and 2) what sort of background checks they conduct with my $140.

For what it's worth, whenever I enter the US in a California airport, I get the "back room" treatment because there is a wanted convict in California who shares my name. I caught a glimpse of the guy once when the agent wasn't looking and we couldn't look any different if we tried (different race, age, body style, etc). If the Chinese are so much more advanced in this area (keeping in mind that the US has thrown billions of dollars at its data mining efforts), I'd be a bit surprised.

Back on topic, I agree with all those who have advised the OP to refrain from waxing about his pro-Tibet activities in his visa ap.