Pema Wangjom Thongdok, an Indian citizen living in the UK, faced detention in Shanghai due to Chinese officials deeming her passport invalid because she is from Arunachal Pradesh.
An Indian citizen living in the UK has claimed that she was detained, mocked and blocked from boarding her connecting flight in Shanghai after Chinese immigration officials claimed that her passport was “invalid” because she is from Arunachal Pradesh. Pema Wangjom Thongdok, who has been residing in the United Kingdom for nearly 14 years, was travelling from London Gatwick to Osaka via Shanghai for a holiday. Thongdok claimed that she was denied access to food and was not allowed to leave the restricted area despite having flown 12 hours from London.
She said the trouble began moments after she passed the e-gates and joined the queue for security clearance for her next flight.
Narrating her experience at Shanghai airport, Thongdok claimed that a Chinese immigration official walked up to her, took her name, pointed at her passport and repeatedly said “India, India”, before taking her out of the queue without explanation. She was then taken near the manual immigration counters, where she was told, “Arunachal not India. Your visa not acceptable. Your passport invalid.”
What followed, she said, was 18 hours of confusion and humiliation.
The passenger said that she interacted with nearly 10 different immigration officials, none of whom gave a clear reason for detaining her. At one point, she alleged that officials mocked her, saying she should “apply for a Chinese passport” and that she was “Chinese, not Indian.” She told that the Airline staff of China Eastern joined the laughter and repeatedly sent her back and forth between the transfer desk and immigration desk without answers.
Despite telling officers that she had previously transited through Shanghai without a visa and that the Chinese embassy in London had confirmed that a short layover did not require one, she said officials refused to allow her to re-enter the line or board her flight to Japan.
The situation grew worse, she told, as she struggled to contact family due to slow Wi-Fi and restrictions on Google, WhatsApp and other apps.
“I told them I had transited through Shanghai before without a visa and that the Chinese embassy in London had confirmed that a short layover doesn’t require one, but they still wouldn’t let me go back into the queue or board my flight to Japan. The whole situation got worse because I couldn’t even contact my family – the Wi-Fi was really slow and you can’t open Google, you can’t open WhatsApp or Facebook. I wasn’t given any food and they wouldn’t allow me to leave that part of the terminal, even after a 12-hour flight from London.”
After repeatedly demanding to know the legal basis for the detention and asking for a way to communicate with someone outside, she said that she was finally allowed to use a landline to call a friend in London. With help from that friend, she contacted the Indian embassies in Shanghai and Beijing.
Within an hour, Indian officials arrived at the airport, spoke to Chinese authorities and arranged her exit from China. She was provided food and ultimately allowed to leave Shanghai, though only after losing her connecting flight and her holiday plans.
“I have travelled to 58 countries. My Indian passport has always been valid everywhere but apparently not in China,” she said in the video, calling the behaviour of immigration and airline officials “humiliating and unprofessional.”
India Calls It ‘Ludicrous’
India has lodged a strong protest with China. A demarche was issued to Beijing both through the Indian Embassy in China and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in Delhi on the very day the incident occurred.
India’s Consulate in Shanghai also intervened locally, extending full assistance to the stranded passenger until her situation was resolved.
According to official sources, New Delhi made it clear to Chinese authorities that the grounds on which the passenger was detained were “ludicrous” and completely unacceptable.
Arunachal Integral and Indisputable Part, Says India
India reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and indisputable part of India, and therefore its residents are legitimately entitled to hold and travel with Indian passports without any additional scrutiny or obstruction abroad.
The Indian side also highlighted that the conduct of Chinese officials appeared to be in violation of key international aviation treaties, specifically the Chicago and Montreal Conventions governing civil aviation and the handling of international passengers. These conventions ensure that passengers in transit cannot be subjected to arbitrary detentions or discriminatory treatment by host airports.