A brand new airline company will possibly emerge before long in Europe or the United States. It is called "naked air" or "cloth-optional flight', and its motto would be "everybody flies naked and nobody worries," or "naked air -- where the only thing you wear is a seat belt."

This is a tentative idea Thomas L. Friedman, a noted "New York Times" columnist, had sketched five years ago in the wake of the attempted bombing of the American Airlines flight from Paris by a terrorist nut with explosive in his shoe.

Perilous plight with more thrilling plots recurred in London a couple of days ago, when numerous terrorists attempted to detonate 10 passenger airliners over the Atlantic Ocean. This news reminded readers of Friedman's fantastic idea.

The bitterness of Friedman's fantasy lies in the evidence that terror cannot be ruled out in the daily life of ordinary Westerners. So one might doubt the third world war, which is still under debate among experts, has already begun, only possibly in another form, a form that has never been heard of, or a new form under a backdrop of globalization.

Right after "September. 11" attack in 2001, not a few New Yorkers would say "their life will go on as usual" whenever they were asked "how they will live in days ahead." This remark can be interpreted as the optimistic attitude of these New Yorkers on one hand but, on the other, no one could deny a sense of helplessness was contained in what they said.

If the 10 passenger planes had been exploded over the Atlantic this time, some people would ask, who will have the audacity to take airliners in the future? The answer would be the identical. Those who have to travel by plane will still certainly do so. One of my American friends has to travel by air all over the world because of her work. I met her at the weekend and asked her the same question, she did not take the question seriously but just laughed it off. For her, taking planes means her routine work or part of her daily life. She has no other better options as other Westerners since living in terror is normalcy in their environment.

The United States is the most powerful nation in the world and the Western world it is leading plays a leading, crucial role in the contemporary world. Their terror will possibly cause others' headache and people elsewhere in the world have experienced such troubles in the past five years after 9/11 incident.

Relevant Chinese departments have been notified by the Transport Security Administration of the US Department of Homeland Security that all passengers to take airliners bound to the United States have to observe the rules that "no liquids or gels of any kind will be permitted in carry on bags abroad air planes", according to media reports. So security checks for these US bound passengers have been beefed up in the Beijing international airport since August 11, and there are already basketfuls of abandoned beverage, perfume and face creams left at the airport.

Of course, all this is only the beginning, and no one can correctly tell what impact the globalization will bring about. Instead of being indifferent or keeping aloof from the affair, people here should think of it carefully though they are far away from the other side of the ocean.

By People's Daily Online