How about this for pure Communist bullshit.
3 times in the first few hours of the flight, a tall Chinese male in dark blue pants, a dark blue jacket, walked slowly around the aircraft. A bit ‘sus’. I looked at his back after he passed me. The dumbass forgot to turn the camera’s screen off. He was filming everyone.
3rd time he did it, I challenged him in front of 2 cabin crew, asking who he was and why he was filming in the cabin. He just laughed (authoritarian jackass), and the cabin crew said he was staff.
Fuck that. Get me the cabin manager.
I quizzed the male cabin manager, who became very evasive, citing company policy that he could not tell me. More Communist bullshit. I asked again. Is he a. China Eastern staff or b. Chinese Government. All I got was the company policy.
I said there are rules in International Airspace, and there are rules of carriage and rules about gaining individuals’ permission to be surveilled. Blank stare.
I said, when I am in Pudong Airport, I know there are cameras everywhere and I gave my digital likeness and all my fingerprints 5 TIMES in a 12 hour period….somewhat excessive and paranoid but I accepted it.
This inflight behaviour, however, will be subject to a report to ICAO and IATA at the very least when I arrive in London.
They turned several shades of embarrassed pink.
Fuck ’em and fuck ever flying with them or into China ever again.
Gordie's Travels 