NEW DELHI: An Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh was held for over 18 hours in Shanghai airport after Chinese officials declared her Indian passport invalid.Prema Wangjom Thongdok, said she is an Indian citizen living in the UK for about 14 years. The ordeal occurred while she was traveling from London’s Gatwick to Janan via a transit in Shanghai.

Describing her harrowing 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, 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 further went on to narrate the alleged misbehavior of the officials at the airport, accusing them of “mocking” and “laughing” at her.“When I tried to question them, 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.’”She added that she had transited through Shanghai previously without issue and described the experience as humiliating, with airport and airline staff allegedly laughing and pointing at her passport. Thongdok also claimed that she had already consulted the Chinese embassy in London regarding the transit and she was assured that no visa would be required for a layover.Thongdok claimed she couldn’t reach out for any help from anyone as there were wifi issues and social platforms like Google and Whatsapp don’t work in the country.She was eventually assisted by Indian embassy officials from Shanghai and Beijing, who helped resolve the issue and provided support during the prolonged wait. She said she was finally able to leave the airport around 10:30PM.Thongdok went on to add, , “… We are part of India… We speak ‘shuddh Hindi’, we don’t understand C of Chinese, we are all Indian… I want to raise this awareness that residents of the northeast of India should not face such harassment in terms of being called and being told that you are not a part of the country that you’re so proudly a citizen of. I would like the government of India to raise this on a diplomatic level with the Chinese authorities. This is not something a regular citizen can resolve. I would just like to request the government of India to take strict action against the Chinese authorities and the government on such matters…”She further told ANI, after her return she reached out to the higher up authorities in the country, writing to them via mails, requesting such incident not be repeated.I wrote an email to the ministry of external affairs, PMO, CM of Arunachal Pradesh, foreign secretary, that such an incident shouldn’t happen to someone who is just a normal citizen…”Thongdok referred to the incident as a possible hassle tactic used by Chinese officials to harass Indian citizens, especially as it was the weekend so there would be less chance of an official intervention, as government offices are closed.“Just to be harassed for so many hours, I think it might be quite a tactic used by the Chinese government to hassle citizens of India, especially from Arunachal Pradesh… I’m just grateful to the team from the Indian embassy who helped me get out of there finally.”Before the interview with ANI she had posted about her order on X, tagging government authorities including Union minister Kiran Rijiju who himself hails from Arunachal Pradesh, and PMO office, highlighting the extended detention and questioning of her citizenship based on her birthplace. Thongdok wrote, “ @pemakhandu @kirenrijuju @PMOIndia I was held at Shanghai airport for over 18 hrs on 21st Nov, 2025 on claims by China immigration & @chinaeasternair They called my Indian passport invalid as my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh which they claimed is Chinese territory.”The MEA is yet to comment on the matter.