India protests after Arunachal woman detained at Shanghai Airport over passport dispute
Guwahati: India lodged a firm protest with Beijing after Prema Wangjom Thongdok, a woman from Arunachal Pradesh, was detained at Shanghai airport on November 21, 2025, when Chinese authorities declared her Indian passport invalid.
Thongdok, who resides in the United Kingdom, recounted that immigration officials held her for more than 18 hours, ridiculed her, and even suggested she apply for a Chinese passport.
She was traveling to Japan for a vacation with a three-hour layover in Shanghai and possessed a valid Japanese visa. However, China Eastern Airlines denied her boarding on the onward flight until Indian officials intervened.
“China immigration and the airline claimed my Indian passport was invalid because my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh, which they said is Chinese territory,” Thongdok wrote on X (formerly Twitter). She added that when she questioned them, staff mocked her, insisting, “You should apply for a Chinese passport. You’re Chinese, not Indian.”
In an interview with a news agency, Thongdok described the incident as humiliating. She said she had transited through Shanghai a year ago without any issues and had lived in the UK for 14 years.
“The behavior of the immigration staff and airline personnel was completely unacceptable. Indian officials arrived within an hour after I contacted the embassies in Shanghai and Beijing, provided food, and helped resolve the matter,” she said.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs immediately issued a strong demarche to the Chinese government in Beijing and Delhi.
The Indian consulate in Shanghai provided on-ground support, emphasizing that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and that its residents have every right to travel on Indian passports.
Officials noted that detaining a citizen on such grounds violates international civil aviation rules, including the Chicago and Montreal Conventions.
The incident comes amid ongoing tensions, as China has in recent years renamed multiple towns and geographic features in Arunachal Pradesh to assert its territorial claims.
Indian authorities underscored that actions like the Shanghai detention unnecessarily disrupt bilateral efforts to restore normalcy in the region.