Small bags overlooked in security checks for bus passengers on Hebei border

The so-called air-tight security checks at the Beijing-Hebei boundary appear focused on checking passengers rather than their belongings, in what has been touted as a front line in the fight against terrorists and dangerous items entering the capital ahead of next month's Games.

At a security checkpoint in the Shijiazhuang long-distance bus station last Thursday afternoon, passengers heading to Beijing were asked to put their bags through a scanner. But smaller bags and some backpacks were allowed through without being checked.

Police officers seemed to focus their attention on checking people's tickets and the scanner monitors, rather than looking at what people were carrying.

A male passenger in his 20s walked through to the waiting area without putting his backpack through the scanner. He only realised the fact when he was ready to board his bus.

'I just forgot to scan it and nobody asked me to,' he said. 'I'm not a bad guy, though, so there's nothing to worry about.'

Police at the checkpoint said they were going out of their way to check everything because a tracking system during the Olympic Games could trace any officer who failed to stop a criminal entering Beijing.

'All the police involved in the security area, from here to where an incident happens, will be held responsible if a criminal sneaks in. Nobody can afford to make mistakes,' an officer said.