A day after an Indian woman claimed that she was stopped by immigration personnel at the Shanghai airport over her passport, which mentioned her place of birth as Arunachal Pradesh, China refuted the allegations, saying the actions taken by Chinese immigration officials were as per laws and regulations.
Prema Wangjom Thongdok, a UK-based Indian financial advisor who was travelling from London to Japan on November 21, had her three-hour scheduled layover turn into an 18-hour-long ordeal during a transit at Shanghai Pudong Airport. Officials at the airport allegedly singled her out and took her aside, following which they pointed to the birthplace entry in her passport and told her that Arunachal Pradesh “is a part of China”, and therefore her Indian passport was “not valid.”
She said the officials kept her passport, blocked her from boarding her flight to Japan despite a valid visa, and made her wait without access to food or reliable information. She somehow managed to connect to the Indian consulate in Shanghai and officials from the consulate helped her board a late-night flight from the Chinese city.
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs said the Indian side told the Chinese side that the passenger had been detained on “ludicrous grounds” and highlighted that the actions are in contravention of the Chicago and Montreal Conventions relating to civil aviation. Arunachal Pradesh is indisputably Indian territory, and its residents are perfectly entitled to hold Indian passports, the source said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning claimed that Thongdok was not subjected to any compulsory measures. Reiterating China’s claims over Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls Zangnan or South Tibet, she said, “China never acknowledges the so-called Arunachal Pradesh, illegally set up by India.”