E-Paper
Woman from Arunachal claims harassment by Chinese authorities in Shanghai
The woman said she had been detained at the Shanghai airport for hours after her Indian passport was declared invalid on the grounds that Arunachal Pradesh was a part of China
NEW DELHI: A woman from Arunachal Pradesh has alleged harassment at the hands of Chinese authorities at the Shanghai airport on November 21, claiming that she had been detained there for hours after her Indian passport was declared invalid on the grounds that the north-eastern state was a part of China.
A strong demarche was made with the Chinese side, in Beijing and in Delhi, on the same day the incident took place, and the Indian consulate in Shanghai also took up the matter locally and extended fullest assistance to the stranded passenger, people aware of the matter said on Monday. It was stressed that the passenger had been detained on ludicrous grounds; Arunachal Pradesh is indisputably Indian territory and its residents are perfectly entitled to hold and travel with Indian passports, the people said.
The woman, who identified herself as Prema Wangjom Thongdok, alleged that she was held by immigration officials at the Shanghai airport for more than 18 hours, she was made fun of and even asked to apply for a Chinese passport.
“I was held at Shanghai airport for over 18 hrs on 21st Nov, 2025 on claims by China immigration & @chinaeasternair They called my Indian passport invalid as my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh which they claimed is Chinese territory,” she wrote on X.
She lives in the United Kingdom and was on her way to Japan for a vacation with a three-hour layover in Shanghai. Thongdok was holding a valid Japanese visa but wasn’t allowed to board the onward China Eastern Airlines flight. Her ordeal ended only after Indian officials intervened, she said.
To be sure, India has consistently rejected Chinese claims over Arunachal Pradesh, saying the northeastern state is an integral and inalienable part of the country.
“When I tried to question them and ask them what the issue was, they said, ‘Arunachal is not part of India’ and started mocking and laughing and saying things like ‘you should apply for the Chinese passport, you’re Chinese, you’re not Indian,” she said in an interview to news agency ANI.
She has been living in the UK for around 14 years and had transited through Shanghai a year ago without any problems.
“It was a very humiliating, questionable behaviour from the immigration staff as well as the airline staff...I called up the Shanghai and Beijing Indian embassies and within an hour, the Indian officials came to the airport, got me some food and spoke through the issues with them and helped me get out of the country. A very long ordeal, 18 hours, but glad that I’m out of there,” she said.
The people cited above said that it has also been highlighted that the actions of the Chinese authorities are in contravention of the Chicago and Montreal Conventions relating to civil aviation. At a time when both sides are working on restoring normalcy, such actions by the Chinese side introduce unnecessary obstructions to the process, the people added.
In recent years, China has resorted to steps such as renaming dozens of towns and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh as part of its efforts to reinforce its claim on the region.
