'Arunachal- not India, China-China": Indian woman face harrasment at Chinese Airport, asked to take Chinese passport 

NEW DELHI: An Indian woman was reportedly held at Shanghai airport in China for 18 hours by authorities while travelling from London to Japan. Pem Wang Thongdok from Arunachal Pradesh shared her ordeal on social media. The woman revealed that she was held by officials who claimed that Arunachal Pradesh is part of China and accused her of holding an invalid Indian passport.

' I was held at Shanghai airport for over 18 hrs on 21st Nov, 2025 on claims by China immigration & China Eastern Airlines. They called my Indian passport invalid as my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh which they claimed is Chinese territory,' Thongdok wrote on X.

Pem Wang Thongdok landed at Shanghai airport to change planes on her way from London to Japan. She had to wait for three hours for her flight to Japan. However, the woman says that the officials refused to approve her Indian citizenship and did not allow her to board the flight to Japan even though she had a Japanese visa.

"One of the officials from the 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'... said Pem Wang Thongdok. The woman also alleges that the officials who claimed that Arunachal Pradesh is part of China insulted her by asking her to apply for a Chinese passport.

After Pem Wang Thongdok missed her flight to Japan, the authorities offered to return her passport only if she purchased a new visa through China Eastern Airlines. However, she could not book a new ticket as she was not allowed to go outside the transit zone. Thongdok then contacted the Indian Consulate with the help of a friend in London. The authorities released her late at night after the intervention of Indian officials.

Thongdok openly said that her experience was tantamount to a direct insult to India's sovereignty. The woman demanded that the Indian government take action to protect the natives of Arunachal Pradesh from this kind of discrimination and respond strongly against China.

China has been repeatedly trying to change the names of some places in Arunachal Pradesh. China calls Arunachal Pradesh 'Zangnan' or the southern part of Tibet. The Indian government has often expressed a strong stance against such moves. Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had earlier condemned China's "creative renaming" of locations in Arunachal Pradesh, calling it an unacceptable and "preposterous" attempt to change the status of the state. Randhir's response came after China announced that it would give Chinese names to 27 places in the northeastern state, mainly 15 mountains, four passes, two rivers, a lake and five inhabited areas.