China Stops Indian Woman, Claims Arunachal as Its Territory

A woman from Arunachal Pradesh faced severe inconvenience after Chinese authorities claimed that her birthplace is part of Chinese territory. Taken aback by the claim, she had taken to X and posted the same details.

The woman, Pema Wang Thongdok, was detained at Shanghai airport and the officials refused to recognize her Indian passport as valid during a transit halt.

Reportedly, Thongdok was travelling from London to Japan. On November 21, she landed in Shanghai for a three-hour layover but the officials held her over for 18 hours. On X, she posted that she was held for 18 hours claiming her passport was “invalid” as her birthplace, Arunachal Pradesh, was “part of China”.

In another post, Thongdok said officials at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport informed that her Indian passport is invalid because she was born in Arunachal Pradesh. The officials told her that Arunachal Pradesh is part of China, and refused to recognize her Indian citizenship. They confiscated her passport and prevented her from boarding her onwards flight, even when she possessed a valid Japanese visa.

Her ordeal did not stop there. She was denied access to food, airport facilities, and official updates about her status. Immigration officials and China Eastern Airlines staff mocked at her and suggested that she should apply for a Chinese passport. Reports said that Thongdok was even stopped from boarding her scheduled flight to Japan and handed over her passport only after she agreed to purchase a new ticket exclusively on China Eastern Airlines, which led to monetary loss from missed flights and hotel bookings.

She was restricted to the airport’s transit area and could not rebook tickets or move freely. Left without any option, she contacted the Indian Consulate in Shanghai through a friend in the UK. It was only after the consular intervention, she was allowed to leave the airport late in the night. Thongdok termed the incident “direct insult to India’s sovereignty” and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue with Beijing and appealed to the Indian authorities to ensure accountability, seek compensation and make it sure that all Indians from Arunachal Pradesh are protected similar discrimination.

Battle Over Arunachal Territory

India has always rejected China’s “vain and preposterous” attempts to rename certain places in Arunachal Pradesh. Beijing refers to the southern part of Tibet as Zangnan.

However, reacting to the incident, China’s Foreign Ministry has declared that the country has never recognized the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh” illegally set up by India. Zangnan is China’s territory, the ministry added.