- A woman from Arunachal Pradesh was detained for 18 hours at Shanghai airport over her Indian passport
- Chinese officials claimed her passport was invalid, as "Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory"
- She was denied boarding her next flight and faced harassment by immigration and airline staff
A woman from Arunachal Pradesh has accused the Chinese authorities of detaining and harassing her at Shanghai airport after refusing to recognise her Indian passport as valid during a transit halt. In a series of posts on the microblogging site X, Pema Wang Thongdok said immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong Airport detained her for "eighteen hours" on November 21, claiming her passport was "invalid" as her birthplace, Arunachal Pradesh, was "part of China".
Thongdok was reportedly travelling from London to Japan on November 21 when she landed in Shanghai for a three-hour layover.
"I was held at Shanghai airport for over 18 hrs on 21st Nov, 2025, on claims by China immigration and China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited. They called my Indian passport invalid, as my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh, which they claimed is Chinese territory," she wrote in a post on X.
In another post, Thongdok said officials at the immigration desk told her that her "Indian passport is invalid because I was born in Arunachal Pradesh."
According to Thongdok's statement, Chinese immigration officers deemed her Indian passport "invalid" upon noticing 'Arunachal Pradesh' listed as her birthplace.
Officials reportedly told her, "Arunachal Pradesh is part of China," refusing to recognise her Indian citizenship. Her passport was confiscated, and she was prevented from boarding her onwards flight despite possessing a valid Japanese visa.
Thongdok stated that multiple immigration officers and China Eastern Airlines staff scorned and mocked her, even suggesting she should "apply for a Chinese passport".
She was denied access to food, airport facilities, and any official updates on her status.
She was also reportedly stopped from boarding her scheduled flight to Japan and was only given her passport back when she agreed to purchase a new ticket exclusively on China Eastern Airlines, causing financial losses from missed flights and hotel bookings.
Confined to the airport's transit area, Thongdok could not rebook tickets or move freely. Distressed and running out of options, she was forced to contact the Indian Consulate in Shanghai through a friend in the UK. With consular intervention, she was finally able to leave the airport late at night and resume her journey.
Calling the incident a "direct insult to India's sovereignty", Thongdok has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian authorities to raise the issue with Beijing. She urged that the Indian government ensure accountability, seek compensation, and guarantee that all Indians from Arunachal Pradesh are protected from similar discrimination while travelling abroad.
The episode has provoked strong reactions among the Indians and diplomatic circles, highlighting the precarious predicament faced by citizens of Arunachal Pradesh due to China's territorial claims and ongoing tensions between New Delhi and Beijing.
India's Stand
India has repeatedly rejected China's "vain and preposterous" attempts to rename certain places in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing refers to as "Zangnan," or the southern part of Tibet.
In May, New Delhi said renaming Indian territories will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India. New Delhi's remarks were in response to Beijing's announcement on Chinese names for 27 places in the northeastern state, mainly 15 mountains, four passes, two rivers, a lake and five inhabited areas.
"We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on May 14.
"Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India," he added.
