A woman from Anurachal Pradesh, India, was harassed and detained by Chinese immigration officials after her passport was not recognized as valid.
Detention and harassment of Indian citizen
An Indian woman from Arunachal Pradesh has alleged that Chinese immigration officials refused to recognize her Indian passport as valid during a transit stop at Shanghai airport. Due to this, officials at the Shanghai airport detained and harassed her.
In several posts on the social media platform X, known as a micro-blogging site, the woman named Pema Wang Thongdok wrote that on November 21, immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong Airport in China detained her for ‘18 hours’. They claimed that since her birthplace Arunachal Pradesh is ‘part of China’, her passport was ‘invalid’.
Thongdok was travelling from London, UK, to Japan on November 21. She had a three-hour stopover at Shanghai airport. In a message on X, Thongdok wrote, ‘On November 21, I was detained at Shanghai airport for more than 18 hours at the request of Chinese immigration and China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited. They said my Indian passport was invalid because my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh. They claim it as Chinese territory.’
In another post, Thongdok wrote, ‘The immigration desk officials clearly stated that my Indian passport is invalid because I was born in Arunachal Pradesh.’ According to Thongdok’s statement, Chinese immigration officials declared it ‘invalid’ after seeing ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ as the place of birth on the passport. The officials allegedly told the Indian woman directly
that ‘Arunachal Pradesh is part of China’ and refused to recognise her Indian citizenship. Her passport was confiscated and she was not allowed to board the next flight despite having a valid Japanese visa. Thongdok alleged that multiple immigration officials and China Eastern Airlines staff mocked and joked with her. She was even advised to ‘apply for a Chinese passport’.
The woman further alleged that during these 18 hours she was not given food, airport facilities or any official information about her condition. Thongdok alleged that she was prevented from boarding a scheduled flight to Japan. She finally got her passport back only after she agreed to buy a new ticket on China Eastern Airlines.
As a result, she suffered financial losses for the cancelled flight and hotel booking. Thongdok was unable to book a new ticket or move freely as she was stuck in the airport transit area. Helpless and disoriented, she was forced to contact the Indian Consulate in Shanghai through a friend in the UK. With the consulate’s intervention, she was finally able to depart from the airport late at night.
Calling the incident a “direct affront to India’s sovereignty”, Thongdok appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian authorities to raise the issue with Beijing. He said the Indian government should ensure accountability for the incident,
demand compensation and ensure that all Indians from Arunachal Pradesh are protected from such discrimination while travelling abroad. The incident highlights the precarious situation of the citizens of Arunachal Pradesh due to China's territorial claims and the ongoing tensions between New Delhi and Beijing.
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