How China's Social Media Curbs Worsened Arunachal Woman's Airport Ordeal

Prema Wangjom Thongdok -- an Arunachal Pradesh-born UK resident-- has claimed that she was detained and harassed by Chinese officials at Shanghai airport for nearly 18 hours after they refused to acknowledge her Indian passport as "valid".

Speaking to NDTV, Thongdok noted that China's social media ban and strict internet policies exacerbated her ordeal further, as she was unable to contact anyone for help.

Thongdok, who originally comes from the Rupa area in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, has been living in the United Kingdom for 14 years, where she works as a financial adviser. The incident occurred on November 21, when she was travelling from London to Japan, with a planned three-hour transit in Shanghai.

The Harassment 

Thongdok, who is currently in Bangkok after being denied onwards travel to Japan from China, said she was "singled out" by a Chinese immigration official at the security gate of Shanghai airport, pointing to "Arunachal" on her passport to claim it was invalid.

"They said Arunachal is part of China, not India," Thongdok said. She recalled how her three-hour layover turned into a nearly 18-hour ordeal after Chinese immigration officials made her miss her onwards flight to Japan, insisting she either return to the UK or her home country, India.

According to Thongdok, she had previously passed through the same airport in October 2024 without any issues. "I had flown this route before, and I was well aware that you can transit... for less than 24 hours or 12 hours without a transit visa, which is why I took on this journey," she said.

She also pointed to the lapse on China Eastern Airlines' part, as they allowed her to board the flight from London to Shanghai on her Indian visa, only raising an issue when she landed in China.

Social Media Ban Effect

Thongdok noted that Beijing's social media policies added to her ordeal, because she was unable to contact the Indian embassy in Shanghai or Beijing over the passport issue for hours, as "none of the apps, not even Google," work in China.

"I couldn't get hold of any phone number to call Indian embassies because the Chinese Wi-Fi was really slow in the airport, and you cannot access WhatsApp, any of your socials, or even Google in China... I could not even find a number to make any contact with my family or anyone, telling them I'm stuck in China," she said.

China bans many foreign social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, X , and YouTube, through a system of internet censorship known as the "Great Firewall". The bans are intended to control information flow, prevent the spread of politically sensitive content, and support domestic platforms like WeChat and Weibo.

After reasoning with Chinese officials for "10-12 hours", Thongdok said she "kind of pressured the immigration and the airline staff" to let her contact her lawyer.

"I told them there is no way I would stay here for this long without you guys giving me a proper, definitive written document which says that the Indian passport for holders and residents of Arunachal is invalid... I told them I needed to speak to a lawyer, and so they gave me the landline, which I used to contact my friends in London... who helped me get numbers for the Indian embassy in Shanghai, and that's when I contacted them," she said.

'Passport Not Valid'

Indian embassy officials reacted promptly and reached Shanghai airport to assist Thongdok. However, the woman said that Chinese officials did not even listen to the Indian officials, denying her onward travel to Japan. They insisted she either return to the UK or go back to India.

"They wouldn't listen to the Indian officials either and would not completely dismiss the fact that an Indian passport is a valid travel document... Because I was so tired -- a 12-hour journey from London, almost being held for 18 hours -- I said to them, 'I just need to be out of here. So let me book any flight,'" she said.

But Chinese immigration did not even allow that, insisting she book her next flight from China Eastern, the same airline that let her board the flight from London but wouldn't let her continue her onward journey to Japan.

Tired of the hassle, Thongdok, a frequent traveller, said she took a connecting flight from Bangkok. "I lost so much money in terms of flights and hotels," she noted.

China's Response

China has denied allegations of Thongdok being harassed at Shanghai airport, saying that the actions taken by the immigration officials were per laws and regulations.