Originally Posted by Fiumicino
Flights to East Asia are routinely overbooked for the reason that ticketing is allowed mostly up to last minute, and many travel agents don't cancel their reservations. Every airline end up with many bogus reservations. It is very difficult to balance load on those routes.
Flights to China have another reason for being overbooked as well, the visas.
I'm sure at least a few people per flight show up without a valid visa, and so can't fly.
That's a reason for overbooking, but not a reason the OP might find it a good bumping ground....