The incident triggered a diplomatic protest from New Delhi, which called China’s actions “unacceptable” and a violation of international aviation norms and India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh.
BY PC Bureau
November 25, 2025: On November 21, 2025, a routine transit stop at Shanghai Pudong International Airport turned into an 18-hour diplomatic flashpoint. Prema Wangjom Thongdok, an Arunachal Pradesh–born Indian citizen now living in the UK, found herself detained, her passport declared “invalid,” and her nationality questioned—not because of any visa lapse or security alert, but because China refused to acknowledge her birthplace as Indian territory.
What began as a holiday trip to Japan quickly transformed into an ordeal that reignited one of Asia’s most volatile geopolitical disputes. As India lodged a strong demarche with Beijing and Chinese officials doubled down on their territorial claims, Thongdok’s detention became more than a bureaucratic confrontation—it became a symbol of how global politics can seize the lives of ordinary citizens.
The Detention in Shanghai
Prema Wangjom Thongdok—an economist by training and a financial adviser by profession—arrived in Shanghai on a China Eastern Airlines flight from London. She had a valid Indian passport, a Japanese visa, and only a three-hour layover before her onward flight to Osaka.
But as Chinese immigration officers examined her passport, their scrutiny sharpened at one entry: her birthplace, “Rupa, West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh.”
For China, Arunachal Pradesh does not exist. The region is claimed as “Zangnan” or South Tibet. And because her birthplace lay in territory Beijing considers its own, officials declared her Indian passport invalid. They refused to let her board her connecting flight. Then came the interrogation.
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“You are Chinese, not Indian,” she was told repeatedly. “Apply for a Chinese passport. Arunachal is Chinese territory.”
What followed was a cascade of harassment, confusion, and isolation. Thongdok was detained in a holding area for almost 18 hours. China Eastern staff pressured her to buy a new ticket out of Shanghai—either to India or the UK. She had no way to call her family; China’s Great Firewall blocked WhatsApp, Google, and even basic social media platforms. The airport Wi-Fi was too slow to load emails.
I’m from the Northeast – so when I say this, I mean it with heart and history.
⁰Prema Thongdok (originally from Rupa, West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh) was en route from London to Japan, transiting via Shanghai, when she was held 18 hours by Chinese authorities simply… pic.twitter.com/wRe0hpsAxX— Zeba Zoariah (@ZZoariah) November 24, 2025
For nearly half a day, she tried to reason with immigration officials before finally being granted access to a landline. She contacted her lawyer in London, who in turn reached out to Indian diplomatic staff.
Indian consular officials arrived quickly. But even then, Chinese authorities reportedly ignored them for hours. Only late into the night was she finally allowed to board a flight—not to Japan, but to Bangkok, from where she eventually reached her destination.
“This was a hassle tactic,” she said afterwards, “meant to intimidate people like me from Arunachal.”
Who Is Prema Wangjom Thongdok?
Thongdok comes from Rupa, a scenic town in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district. A member of the Monpa community, she moved to the UK 14 years ago. She is an alumna of Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce and holds a master’s degree in International Business from the University of Hertfordshire.
Her life—like that of thousands of people from India’s Northeast—is global: studying in Delhi, working in London, traveling across continents. She had passed through Shanghai just a year earlier with no issues. But on this trip, her birthplace turned her into a geopolitical object.
Since the incident, she has spoken openly about the mental and financial toll—missed flights, canceled hotel bookings, legal bills, and the humiliation of having her identity questioned. “This is not a political issue for me,” she said. “This is about basic dignity.”
India Pushes Back
New Delhi reacted swiftly and sharply. The Ministry of External Affairs lodged a strong demarche in Beijing and called the treatment “unacceptable” and “unwarranted.”
India reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral, inalienable part of India, and that Indian passports cannot be selectively invalidated based on birthplace. Officials noted that China’s actions violated established international norms, including the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation and the Montreal Convention, which guarantee equal treatment to transiting passengers regardless of nationality.
The government emphasized that the incident came at a sensitive time. With military disengagement talks still underway after the 2020 Ladakh clashes, the detention risked clouding recent diplomatic progress.
Consular staff in Shanghai offered Thongdok food, water, and emotional support—small gestures in the face of a diplomatic standoff, but ones that underscored that India intended to defend the rights of its citizens abroad.
China Doubles Down
On November 25, 2025, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning dismissed India’s protest. She denied any harassment, claiming all procedures were legal and noting that the airline had offered Thongdok “drinks, food, and a resting space.”
She reiterated Beijing’s long-standing position: Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory; passports listing it as Indian territory are invalid; and Chinese border officials have full authority to take appropriate action.
China’s response was blunt, unapologetic, and consistent with its previous actions, including issuing stapled visas, renaming places in Arunachal in Mandarin, and occasionally denying entry to officials from the state.
A Border Dispute That Refuses to Die
Thongdok’s ordeal cannot be separated from the long, tangled history of the India–China border. The McMahon Line, drawn in 1914 by the British, is recognized by India but rejected by China. The 1962 war saw Chinese troops enter and then retreat from Tawang. Skirmishes in 1987, 2022, and ongoing standoffs across the Line of Actual Control keep tensions alive.
China has renamed more than 80 places in Arunachal since 2017, asserting symbolic control. India has responded with infrastructure upgrades, including the Sela Tunnel. Diplomatically, both sides maintain channels of communication—but trust remains elusive.
Thongdok’s detention illustrates how the dispute spills beyond patrol lines and military units into the lives of civilians—students, traders, tourists—whose documents suddenly become battlegrounds.
International Law and Global Implications
Several international norms were breached. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—freedom of movement—was compromised. Non-discriminatory transit norms under global aviation agreements were ignored.
Such actions risk creating fear among Arunachal residents who travel abroad. They strain people-to-people ties between two major Asian economies even as trade between them edges past $135 billion a year.
Diplomats warn: if incidents like this multiply, they could derail painstaking confidence-building measures at the border
𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 & 𝐀𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧!
🚨 “Arunachal, not valid passport.”
🚨 On being asked why, Prema was told, “Arunachal is a part of China. Your passport is invalid.”
🚨 Immigration staff members and airlines personnel mocked her, laughed… pic.twitter.com/6hf7vIoAhr
— INC TV (@INC_Television) November 24, 2025
One Woman, One Airport, One Geopolitical Fault Line
On the surface, this was the story of a woman stranded at an airport for 18 hours. But in reality, it was another flare-up in a century-old border dispute, another reminder that the India–China relationship remains brittle, and another example of how national identity can be challenged by a stamp in a passport.
As of November 25, 2025, Prema Wangjom Thongdok is safe in Japan. But her experience has reopened difficult questions:
What happens when ordinary citizens become pawns of territorial claims?
How far will China go to assert its position on Arunachal Pradesh?
And how prepared is India to protect its own?
Her ordeal will long remain a case study in the human cost of unresolved borders.
