Arunachal Pradesh woman harassed at Shanghai airport, told to apply for Chinese passport

An Indian woman from the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh was allegedly harassed by Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong Airport for 18 hours and told that her passport was “invalid.”

Prema Wangjom Thongdok, who resides in the UK, alleged that immigration officials claimed she was “not Indian” because “Arunachal is part of China” and asked her to apply for a Chinese passport instead.

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“I am an Indian citizen residing in the UK for about 14 years, and I was travelling from London to Japan via a transit in Shanghai…One of the officials from Chinese immigration came over and singled me out of the queue. I asked her what was happening, and she went on to say, ‘Arunachal—not India, China-China. Your visa is not acceptable. Your passport is invalid.’ When I tried to question them and ask what the issue was, they said, ‘Arunachal is not part of India,’ and began mocking and laughing, saying things like, ‘You should apply for a Chinese passport. You’re Chinese, you’re not Indian,’” she said while narrating her ordeal.

Thongdok criticised the China Eastern airline staff and the immigration officers for their humiliating behaviour.

“The airline staff of China Eastern and about two other immigration officers were speaking in their language, pointing at me, saying ‘Arunachal’ and laughing, calling it China, not India. It was highly humiliating and deeply questionable behaviour,” she said.

Frustrated by their conduct, she reached out to the Indian embassies in Shanghai and Beijing, and officials intervened to help her leave the country.

“She said she contacted the Shanghai and Beijing Indian embassies, and within an hour, Indian officials arrived at the airport, gave her food, spoke to the authorities and helped her exit the country. It was a very long ordeal—18 hours—but I’m glad I’m out of there,” she said.

Thongdok asserted that the people of Arunachal Pradesh are Indian and urged the government to raise the issue at a diplomatic level with Chinese authorities.

“We are part of India…We speak shuddh Hindi; we don’t understand C of Chinese. We are all Indian. I want to raise awareness so that residents of northeast India do not face such harassment or be told they are not part of the country they proudly belong to. I request the Government of India to take strict action against the Chinese authorities on such matters,” she stated.

Following the incident, she has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Foreign Secretary to ensure such incidents do not happen to any Indian citizen in the future.