Thanks for the info. I was not aware that ridiculous amount of screening came from the TSA of the U.S., our homeland.

However, having traveled through Hong Kong in years 2018 an 2019, never did I experience any of this type of rigorous screening both those times.

Furthermore, Cathay Pacific staff was very "green", and appeared as though they were not trained properly/thoroughly enough. Dinner was served with missing entrees, trash pickup took longer than usual for a flight attendant to do their rounds, and just a general all-around lack of morale. Prehaps the pilot resignations of recent years and the decrease in pay has turned off the former Hong Kong flight attendants and the new recruits are all mainlanders from what I could tell