China defends passport checks on Indian woman born in disputed border region

Beijing has rejected claims that Chinese authorities detained and harassed an Indian national born in a disputed border region, after the traveller alleged that she was held for more than 18 hours while transiting through Shanghai.

On Sunday, a woman who identified herself as Pem Wang Thongdok said on social media that she had been “held” against her will at a Shanghai airport on Friday. She said she had been travelling from London to Japan via Shanghai.

According to the post, Chinese border control officers and China Eastern Airlines declared the woman’s Indian passport “invalid” because it listed her birthplace as India-controlled Arunachal Pradesh, which China calls Zangnan, meaning southern Tibet.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have been effectively divided by the 3,200km (1,990 mile) Line of Actual Control since a brief but bloody border war in 1962. The current border between Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet is based on the British colonial “McMahon Line”, which China has never recognised.

Beijing claims certain territories south of this line as part of its Tibet autonomous region, referring to them as Zangnan. India designates these areas as Arunachal Pradesh.

On Tuesday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that border inspection authorities had “carried out verification procedures in accordance with laws and regulations, enforced the law fairly and civilly, and fully safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of the individual concerned”.

“Zangnan is Chinese territory. China has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India,” she said.

  

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