(TibetanReview.net, Dec03’25) – As direct air travel between India and China reopened recently after a gap of five years, an India-born Tibetan tourist was interrogated in a rude and rough manner for some six hours on his arrival at Shanghai airport on Dec 1 early morning and then escorted out of the country like a criminal simply because of his ethnicity, according to his Yarloong youtube post and interview with the Tibetan-language tibettimes.net Dec 2. His plan was to travel from Beijing to Chongqing.
“Where are you from?” Tashi Dhondup says he was asked on landing at Shanghai airport at 4AM and with that began his six-hour ordeal, which ended with him being escorted to a plane for Bangkok, held by two policemen on either side, due to the absence of a direct flight to India at that time.
Asked how he obtained his Indian citizenship, he replied that he was born in the country. Asked if he had relatives in China, he replied that he had none.
After then being kept standing for half an hour, he was ordered to follow three military personnel – who began filming with a camera – to an empty room where he and all his personal belongings were thoroughly searched, including his shoes and socks.
They went through all the photos in his cellphone, asked him to explain every person who appeared in it, and took photos of his wife, children, and other family members. When they asked about his camera and he explained that he loved vlogging for YouTube videos, they asked him, “Why are you making videos here?”
And so, the cops took turns to interrogate him while keeping him under an order not to move or touch his cellphone. They checked his social media profiles and photographed their contents.
And then they asked him whether had had any connection with or dealings in Dharamsala. He explained that he lived in Chamba.
After hours of being detained and grilled thus, he kept asking for water, to be finally given a small cup of it with what he says was a stale piece of bread. Which he did not eat, as the cops kept photographing him.
When he expressed concern about missing his connecting flight to Beijing, they told him to worry about himself instead, which frightened him.
After around six hours, an officer came with his passport and documents and claimed that they were fake and he could not enter China. His request for a place to rest was refused. As there was plane to Bangkok at that time leaving in an hour, he paid $400 to book a ticket. Two policemen held him on either side as if he was a criminal during the journey as curious fellow-passengers looked on.
Tashi Dhondup was born and brought up in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, and attended the local Central School for Tibetans, Dalhousie. He says he has a passion for exploring the world and has travelled to 10 countries so far, with China being meant to be his 11th destination.