Originally Posted by
onuhistorian0116
I question the efficacy of the security theater. After that guy set off what was basically a bottle rocket at the airport in Shanghai, now to enter Chinese airports, you have to wait in a security line to be checked for explosives. That line is a new choke point that is vulnerable for attacks. I argue the same thing about the extensive security checks to enter sporting events in the US, in today's mass shooting culture. I'd love to wear my shoes through TSA.
I've seen security guards asleep at the X-ray machines in Chinese subways. When I lived in Shanghai, you could quickly walk by the X-ray machine without dropping your bag (unless it was a roller board suitcase), and 90% of the time the guard let you through.
It is theater and job creation.
In many places (not all) this is quite true, it is theater and job creation. But no different from many other aspects of Chinese procedures and staffing having nothing to do with security....for example, street cleaning, or any government office.
But there are quite a number of places in China where security is very thorough and certainly no theater--Urumqi Airport, for instance.
However, whether theater or the real deal, there is still nothing we as individuals can do about it, except account for the time and procedure in our scheduling. Part of survival in China is picking one's battles carefully and just going with the flow for the rest of it and not wasting mental energy.