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Pema Wang Thongdok said she was held for 18 hours by Chinese immigration officials during a transit stop on November 21 after they allegedly refused to accept her Indian passport because it listed Arunachal Pradesh as her birthplace.
China’s Foreign Ministry rejected their allegations and reiterated its claims on Arunachal Pradesh, saying the action taken was in accordance with regulations.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal countered this at a briefing, saying, “We have noted the statements made by the Chinese Foreign Ministry regarding the arbitrary detention of an Indian national from Arunachal Pradesh, who held a valid passport and was transiting through Shanghai International Airport on his onward journey to Japan.”
He said, “Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, this is a self-evident fact. No amount of denial by the Chinese side will change this indisputable reality.”
Jaiswal said that India has raised this issue strongly with Beijing. “Chinese authorities have yet to explain their actions, which violate multiple conventions governing international air travel,” he said. He said the detentions also violated China’s own rules, which allow up to 24 hours of visa-free transit for all nationalities.
India has lodged a strong protest with China on this incident.
Thongdok said in social media posts that authorities considered his passport “invalid” because it listed Arunachal Pradesh as his birthplace – a region he claimed belonged to China.
Government sources told PTI that a strong demarche – a formal diplomatic protest – was issued to China in both Beijing and New Delhi on the day of the incident.