An Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh was held for over 18 hours at the Shanghai airport after Chinese officials claimed her Indian passport was invalid because it listed Arunachal Pradesh as her birthplace.
Prema Wangjom Thongdok, who has been living in the UK for nearly 14 years, was travelling from London’s Gatwick to Japan with a planned transit in Shanghai when the incident occurred.
Who is Prema Thongdok?
Prema Wangjom Thongdok, in her 30s, is originally from Rupa in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, where her family still lives. She works as a financial adviser in the UK and was travelling from London to Japan on 21 November. She said she had moved through the same airport earlier without any issues, telling The Indian Express, “On October 16, I had very successfully transited through the same airport. There was no issue."
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What happened at Shanghai airport?
Thongdok said she was singled out at the security check and taken aside. Officials pointed to the birthplace on her passport and claimed Arunachal Pradesh “is a part of China”, declaring her Indian passport “not valid”.
Sharing her experience, she told ANI, "I had basically crossed e-gates, standing in the queue for my next flight, and then one of the officials from the Chinese immigration came over and singled me out of the queue. I asked her what was happening, but she didn't say much, just asked me to follow her. And she went on to say, 'Arunachal- not India, China-China, your visa is not acceptable, your passport is invalid'"
She said officials “mocked” and “laughed” at her.
"They said, 'Arunachal is not part of India' and started mocking and laughing, saying things like 'you should apply for the Chinese passport, you're Chinese, you're not Indian.'"
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Her passport was taken away, she was blocked from boarding her Japan-bound flight despite having a valid visa, and she was made to wait 18 hours without food or clarity. She said, “They insisted that I either fly back to the UK or fly to India."
Thongdok eventually contacted the Indian Consulate in Shanghai, and then six officials arrived within an hour and brought her food. They attempted to persuade the authorities to allow her to continue to Japan, but the request was rejected.
She was told she could only leave using China Eastern Airlines. She later booked a flight to India via Thailand and is now working remotely in Thailand.
Thongdok wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), calling the declaration of her passport as “invalid” a “direct challenge to India’s sovereignty”.
She described the incident as “harassment” and said a “geopolitical matter was misdirected at a private Indian citizen”. She has asked the Indian government to take up the issue “strongly” with China and seek compensation for her “harassment, distress and financial losses”.
Officials noted that the actions by Chinese authorities violate international civil aviation rules under the Chicago and Montreal Conventions.
