Hong Kong screens airline passengers for radiation in wake of Japan leaks

I just arrived in Hong Kong and it’s like stepping back in time – to the time of SARS and Bird Flu. Air passengers are once again being greeted by masked security and health officials.

Hong Kong health officials appear to be monitoring arriving passengers, especially those from Japan, for radiation. So far, Hong Kong officials have not detected any abnormal rates of radiation on passengers or planes landing here.

However, Taiwan officials reportedly discovered at least one passenger arriving in Taipei had higher than normal levels of radiation on his clothing and that touched off alarm bells in this former British colony.

Taiwan tourism is bracing for a major hit thanks to the problems in Japan. Over one million Japanese visited Taiwan last year but because of the ongoing troubles caused by the earthquake, tsunami and the ongoing nuclear radiation leaks and the economic fallout that is sure to follow, Taiwanese officials are expecting much fewer Japanese to take holidays there in the next few years.

In China, meanwhile, panic buying has broken out for of all things salt. Rumors that sea salt in Japan, a major supplier for Chinese tables, will be contaminated for many years to come sent Chinese consumers rushing to supermarkets and they quickly cleaned out salt and soya sauce shelves.

I'm heading to Beijing over Japan

I'm off to Beijing Friday (March 18) and no I'm not worried about being exposed to high levels of radiation from those leaky Japanese nuclear reactors.

Anyone heading to China, or anywhere else in Asia for that matter, should not be worried about being contaminated because the infected plume of smoke from those damaged reactors will likely hit the West Coast of North America before it hits anywhere in Asia thanks to wind patterns.

My Cathay Pacific flight will probably fly right over Japan and at 35,000 feet, I'm not a bit worried.

I appreciate why people are nervous about travelling to Japan and completely understand why many Canadians who scheduled trips to that unfortunate nation in the next few weeks have cancelled or postponed their departures.

However, why do people assume what happens in Japan is happening elsewhere in Asia?

Did we all fail geography? Japan is an island unto itself, literally, and Tokyo is over 2,100 km from Beijing. Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore are even further away. Even Japan's closest neighbour South Korea is not in danger.

I'll report back daily so stay tuned!