Small scissors confiscated in PVG
 

I just went through the international security at PVG yesterday and my very small pair of nail scissors (blades much smaller than 4 inches) were confiscated :confused: by the Chinese luggage inspection after my bag was subjected to secondary screening after going through the x-ray machine. I speak near-fluent Mandarin and was unable to argue for their safe passage, even though I have flown with them inside and out of China many times before. I'm not sure if this is a new Chinese policy or just a one-off, but I thought I'd mention it here.

If you speak near-fluent Mandarin presumably you've been in China long enough to know that arguing with the security people is a pointless exercise. You also should know that all rules are subject to "interpretation" in China by whatever official you happen to be dealing with. I don't know what the rules are for scissors in China since I don't carry them with me, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are completely banned and they just weren't noticed on your previous trips.

Yeah, I don't think China permits blades on planes, period.

I have carried a small round-tip scissor through PVG once and it wasn't noticed--but it was in my laptop bag where it could easily be lost in the clutter. I deliberately bought a cheap pair for the trip as I knew I might lose them to security. (I wanted them on the plane to open some tough food packages.)

The official, English language instructions are here:

http://en.shairport.com/2012-11/09/content_15901053.htm

There is no mention of scissors (剪刀) in the Chinese language rules either. I have taken this pair on dozens of flights inside and out of China and never been questioned.

The security officials in China are certainly more polite than the TSA and can be either more or less officious depending on their mood. I have a Victorinox USB stick, and the same security official thought it was a Swiss Army Knife (瑞士军刀) but I convinced her otherwise.

Not sure if this is a new, official as yet unpublished change in procedures, more enforcement of an existing tacit rule or a one-off. My scissors weren't very expensive either, but just a note of warning since small scissors are now permitted by the TSA and most other countries, at least as far as I've encountered recently.

probably for crimes against fellow passengers... to stop people clipping their toenails whilst in public places :p:p:p

SIN also bans all scissors.

At NRT, small scissors require that some manager/specialist be called to measure them with some very accurate-looking device, even when they're clearly small enough to be allowed.

re SIN: upon boarding *at* SIN for a SIN-NRT flight, my small, rounded-tip (very blunt) scissors were confiscated. Ironic because I'd carried them for years & certainly no one objected to them for the flight *to* SIN (HKG-SIN) on that particular trip. Would say, "go figure", but gave up that thought long ago.