‘Exercise due discretion’: MEA cautions Indians travelling to China weeks after Arunachal woman's detention
Last month, a woman from Arunachal Pradesh alleged that she was detained for hours by the Chinese authorities at the Shanghai airport.
Weeks after a woman from Arunachal Pradesh was detained at Shanghai airport, the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday cautioned Indian citizens travelling to China, asking them to “exercise due discretion”.
"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 by the Chinese side," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“MEA would advise Indian nationals to exercise due discretion while travelling to China or transiting through the country,” he added.
Last month, a woman from Arunachal Pradesh alleged that she was detained for hours by the Chinese authorities at the Shanghai airport on November 21 and that she had been detained there for hours after her Indian passport was declared invalid on the grounds that the north-eastern state was a part of China.
The woman, identified as Prema Wangjom Thongdok, alleged that she was held by immigration officials at the Shanghai airport for more than 18 hours and was mocked at and even asked to apply for a Chinese passport. Thongdok lives in the United Kingdom and was on her way to Japan for a vacation with a three-hour layover in Shanghai, HT earlier reported.
Thongdok said she was holding a valid Japanese visa but wasn’t allowed to board the onward China Eastern Airlines flight and her ordeal ended only after the intervention of Indian officials.
“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,” she wrote on X.
New Delhi reacted strongly to the incident and said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, though the Chinese foreign ministry said the woman was not subjected to any compulsory measures, detainment or harassment.
“We learnt that China’s border inspection authorities have gone through the whole process according to the laws and regulations and fully protected the lawful rights and interests of the person concerned. Zangnan is China’s territory. China never acknowledged the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally set up by India,” Mao said.
India retorted to China's claim saying, "no amount of denial by the Chinese side is going to change this indisputable reality.”
