India Issues Strong Demarche After Arunachal Woman Harassed At Shanghai Airport

India has issued a “strong demarche” to China after a woman from Arunachal Pradesh was harassed and stopped by Chinese immigration officials at the Shanghai airport on November 21. The demarche was delivered to China on the day of the incident both in New Delhi and in Beijing.

The Chinese action comes at a time when the two Asian neighbours are in the process of normalising ties that had taken a severe blow following the military confrontation in Ladakh in the summer of 2020. The incident once again exposes the fragility of India-China relations, despite high powered diplomatic moves to end the deadlock.

China has said it “never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally set up by India” and declared it as Chinese ‘Zangnan’. The incident would have been quietly buried but for China’s provocative remark on Arunachal’s status.

``Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, and this is a self-evident fact. No amount of denial by the Chinese side is going to change this indisputable reality,’’ MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a late night statement issued on Tuesday.

``We have seen statements made by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the arbitrary detention of an Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh, who was holding a valid passport and was transiting through Shanghai International Airport on her onward travel to Japan,’’Jaiswal added, reacting to the Chinese foreign office comment. Prema Wangjom, an Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh, was held for over 18 hours in the Shanghai airport after Chinese officials declared her Indian passport invalid. She was on transit through Shanghai while travelling from London to Japan. She had been living and working in the UK for 14-years. Chinese officials questioned her claim of

being an Indian citizen, when they checked her passport and realised she was born in Arunachal Pradesh. They mocked her saying she was not Indian, as she was born Zangnan, the Chinese name for Arunachal. which they said ‘is a part of China’, doubling down on their claim that the north eastern state is part of Chinese territory.“One of them even said that I should get a Chinese passport, because I am Chinese. They were mocking me,’’ Prema Wangjom told ANI. ``The issue of the detention has been taken up strongly with the Chinese side. Chinese authorities have still not been able to explain their actions, which are in violation of several conventions governing international air travel. The actions by the Chinese authorities also violate their own regulations that allow visa free transit up to 24 hours for nationals of all countries,’’ Jaisal went on to say.

The Indian Consulate in Shanghai also took up the matter locally and extended assistance to Prema Wangjom. In fact embassy officials rushed to the airport as soon as they got word of what was happening.

"I am deeply shocked by the unacceptable treatment of Ms. Prema Wangjom Thongdok, a proud Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh, by Chinese immigration authorities at Shanghai Pudong Airport. Subjecting her despite a valid Indian passport to humiliation and racial mockery is appalling. Arunachal Pradesh is, and will always be an integral part of India. Any insinuation otherwise is baseless and offensive," Arunachal chief minister Pema Khandu posted on X.

The bottom line is that without solving the boundary dispute India and China will continue to have these hiccups that further fuels suspicion on both sides.