GG News Bureau
A woman from Arunachal Pradesh has alleged that Chinese authorities detained and harassed her for 18 hours at Shanghai Pudong Airport after refusing to recognise her Indian passport during a transit halt. In detailed posts on X, Pema Wang Thongdok said she was stopped on November 21 while travelling from London to Japan, with officials claiming her passport was “invalid” because her birthplace, Arunachal Pradesh, was “part of China”.
Thongdok, who had a three-hour layover in Shanghai, wrote that immigration authorities and China Eastern Airlines staff repeatedly insisted her Indian passport could not be accepted. “They called my Indian passport invalid, as my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh, which they claimed is Chinese territory,” she posted.
According to her account, Chinese immigration officers confiscated her passport, mocked her nationality, and denied her access to food, assistance or airport facilities. Some officials allegedly told her to “apply for a Chinese passport”. Despite possessing a valid Japanese visa, she was barred from boarding her onward flight.
Thongdok said her ordeal worsened when she was told she could only leave if she purchased a fresh ticket exclusively from China Eastern Airlines. After losing money on missed flights and hotel bookings, she remained trapped in the transit area, unable to rebook travel freely.
With no resolution in sight, she contacted the Indian Consulate in Shanghai through a friend in the UK. Only after diplomatic intervention was she allowed to continue her journey late that night.
Calling the incident a “direct insult to India’s sovereignty”, Thongdok has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian authorities to raise the matter formally with Beijing and seek accountability and compensation.
Her posts have triggered sharp reactions online and within diplomatic circles, underscoring the challenges faced by travellers from Arunachal Pradesh amid Beijing’s territorial claims.
India’s Stand
New Delhi has repeatedly and firmly rejected China’s assertion that Arunachal Pradesh is its territory. In May, after Beijing released Chinese names for 27 locations in the state, India dismissed the move as “vain and preposterous”. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said: “Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.”
The latest incident is expected to fuel further debate over China’s actions and their impact on Indian citizens travelling abroad.
