India lodges protest with China
An incident involving an Arunachal Pradesh woman at Shanghai airport has reignited concerns over China’s repeated attempts to undermine India’s territorial sovereignty. Prema Wangjom Thongdok, originally from Rupa in West Kameng district and currently residing in the UK, alleged that Chinese immigration officials detained her for nearly 18 hours on November 21, 2025, after refusing to recognise her Indian passport during a transit halt.
Thongdok was travelling from London to Japan with a scheduled three-hour layover in Shanghai. According to her account, immigration personnel declared her passport “invalid” solely because it listed Arunachal Pradesh as her birthplace. She claimed officials insisted that Arunachal Pradesh was “part of China” and demanded she accept their interpretation before allowing further processing.
In a detailed post on X, she described her ordeal as traumatising. She alleged that she was confined to the transit area without clear explanations, deprived of proper food and basic facilities, and had her passport confiscated. Despite holding a valid Japanese visa, she was prevented from boarding her connecting flight. What should have been a routine transit turned into a distressing standoff with airport authorities.
Thongdok eventually managed to contact the Indian consulate in Shanghai through a UK-based friend. Consulate officials intervened and helped her board a late-night flight out of the city. Following the incident, she wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior officials, calling the episode a “direct insult to India’s sovereignty and the people of Arunachal Pradesh.” She urged New Delhi to take up the matter strongly with Beijing, demand accountability, disciplinary action against those involved, and compensation for the harassment she faced.
The incident comes against the backdrop of China’s long-standing claim over Arunachal Pradesh, which it refers to as “South Tibet.” India has consistently rejected these claims, asserting that the state is an integral and inalienable part of the country. Beijing has often attempted to reinforce its stance through provocative measures such as renaming villages, issuing maps that claim Indian territory, and objecting to visits by Indian leaders to the state.
This episode also echoes China’s controversial practice of issuing stapled visas instead of stamped visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh, a move India has denounced as an affront to its sovereignty. Several athletes, students, and officials from the state have previously been denied entry into China after refusing stapled visas, prompting India to lodge protests and cancel bilateral exchanges.
In response to Thongdok’s detention, India lodged a strong protest with China. Government sources confirmed that a formal demarche was issued both in Beijing and New Delhi on the same day. India conveyed firmly that Arunachal Pradesh is “indisputably” Indian territory and its residents are fully entitled to hold and travel with Indian passports. The Indian Consulate in Shanghai also took up the matter locally and extended assistance to the stranded passenger.
Sources stressed that the detention was on “ludicrous grounds” and highlighted that the actions of Chinese authorities contravened international civil aviation conventions, including the Chicago and Montreal Conventions. They further noted that at a time when both sides are working to restore normalcy in bilateral relations, such actions introduce unnecessary obstructions.
Thongdok’s experience has reignited fears that China may be extending its stapled-visa logic to international transit points, potentially targeting travellers from Arunachal Pradesh even when they are merely passing through Chinese airports.