(TibetanReview.net, Dec09’25) – The government of India has on Dec 8 asked China to adhere to regulations governing international air travel while expressing concern over the treatment it had meted out to a resident of Arunachal Pradesh as she transited through Shanghai airport on Nov 21. It has also advised Indian citizens to “exercise due discretion” when travelling to or through China.
A similar mistreatment suffered by an Indian citizen of Tibetan origin at the same airport on Dec 1 seems to have escaped the attention of the Indian government.
“We expect the Chinese authorities to provide assurances that Indian citizens transiting through Chinese airports will not be selectively targeted, arbitrarily detained, or harassed, and that regulations governing international air travel would be respected,” Reuters Dec 8 quoted Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal as telling reporters at a weekly media briefing.
In the case of Ms Pema Wangjom Thongdok, a Britain-based woman with an Indian passport, India had already lodged a strong protest with Beijing over what it called the arbitrary detention of an Indian citizen at the airport, saying such incidents undermine efforts to rebuild ties, the report noted.
Thongdok was prevented from boarding her onward flight from London to Japan and held for 18 hours, with immigration officers claiming her passport was invalid as Arunachal Pradesh, her birthplace, was in southern Tibet and therefore part of China.
She was confined to the airport’s transit area and could not rebook tickets or move freely. Distressed and running out of options, she was forced to contact the Indian Consulate in Shanghai through a friend in the UK. With consular intervention, she was finally able to leave the airport late at night and resume her journey, ndtv.com earlier reported Nov 24.
Despite strong protest from India, the same airport on Dec 1 harassed and intimidated an Indian passport-holder of Tibetan ethnicity on a tourist visa. After telling him to worry about himself rather his connecting flight to Beijing, Mr Tashi Dhondup, born and brought up in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, was forced to buy a $400 ticket to Bangkok as no direct flight to India was available by that time.
Throughout the detention, he was videographed, told to explain his citizenship, had all sorts of demeaning questions asked, was thoroughly searched from head to toe, asked about all the persons whose photos appeared in his mobile phone, with those of his family members being copied, while having only a small cup of water being given only towards the end of his plight after repeated requests, along with a stale piece of bread that he did not eat. He was also asked how he got a Chinese visa. Two Chinese officers held him during his flight to Bangkok as if he was a criminal, as fellow-travellers looked on.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not immediately respond to Reuters request for a comment on Dec 8. In November, Beijing said airport checks were conducted in accordance with laws and regulations in the case of Ms Thongdok. This followed a strong demarche (a formal diplomatic protest) issued by New Delhi. China usually never admits any wrongdoing by its officers, whether at the airport or land border.
India and China have been cautiously improving ties after years of tension, marked by high-level visits including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to China in August – the first in seven years – where he and President Xi Jinping pledged partnership over rivalry, the report noted.
Nevertheless, the two sides are still arrayed against each other at the Tibet border, continuing to maintain strong deployments and carrying out build-ups even as the situation there has remained calm for a fair length of time now.