What are stapled visas that China has issued to wushu athletes from Arunachal?

China has irked India once more. This time, though, by reviving the practice of “stapled visas.” The Indian Wushu team had late-night drama on Wednesday when the neighbouring nation handed stapled visas to three athletes from Arunachal Pradesh. China’s decision to provide this type of visa stems from its long-held position that the northeastern Indian state is a part of its territory, a position that India has frequently refuted. Let’s take a closer look at the matter. Also read: China on the brink of deflation: What does this mean? What happened? Three players from Arunachal Pradesh in the Indian Wushu team were given stapled visas by China, according to Hindustan Times. Therefore, the Indian government delayed the squad’s departure for Chengdu, China, on Wednesday night to compete at the World University Games (28 July to 8 August). The 12-member team consisted of three officials, one coach, and eight players. The team’s three wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh are identified as Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega, and Mepung Lamgu. According to the report, the team’s visa applications were submitted on 16 July. The three athletes’ paperwork was rejected, although the other team members’ visas arrived on time.

On Wednesday, the Chinese embassy returned the passports with stapled visas after finally asking them to resubmit their paperwork on Tuesday. On Thursday night, the three athletes were supposed to leave for Chengdu. The other Wushu team members were scheduled to depart on Wednesday night (1 am on Thursday). The people claimed that after learning about the matter, the government instructed the entire Wushu team to temporarily put their trip arrangements “on hold.” At roughly 2.30 am, the team returned from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi airport as teams for other disciplines left for Chengdu. The Association of Indian Universities (AIU), which runs selection trials for athletes from across various Universities in India, is responsible for sending the Indian delegation to the World University Games. It is pertinent to mention here that the recent rift occurred against the backdrop of the ongoing military standoff between China and India on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has been ongoing since May 2020. Also read: Qin Gang: The meteoric rise and quick fall of China’s foreign minister What are stapled visas? When a nation issues a stapled visa, they are asserting ownership over a region they have no control over, according to India Today’s DailyO. A prime example is China’s claim to Arunachal Pradesh in India. The immigration official does not stamp the applicant’s passport when a stapled visa is granted. Instead, they affix a separate piece of paper to the passport that has all the travel information, including the reason for the trip and how long it will take to reach the destination. The stapled visa is the document that has been stamped by the authorities. The purpose of stapled visas is to demonstrate that China rejects India’s claim to Arunachal Pradesh. China has repeatedly had its claims that the northeastern state is a disputed territory rejected by India. Immigration officers at all airports are instructed not to let anyone with a stapled visa board a flight to China, according to Hindustan Times’ sources. Allowing Indians from the state who have stapled visas to travel to China would amount to acknowledging that Arunachal Pradesh is a disputed territory. Notably, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi claimed during a trip to India in 2014 that such stapled visas “do not undermine or compromise our respective positions on the border question.” In response to these moves, India stopped using the term “one China” in official papers more than ten years ago. Also read: India again rebuffs China’s renaming of places for Arunachal Pradesh. But, why does Beijing keep doing it? What did India say? After Beijing declined to grant standard visas to three “Wushu” martial arts athletes, India on 27 July raised a strong protest and said that it would respond to it appropriately. It further described China’s move to reinstate the practice of “stapled visas” for Indian athletes as “unacceptable.” “It has come to our notice that stapled visas have been issued to some of our citizens representing the country in an international sporting event in China. This is unacceptable and we have lodged a strong protest with the Chinese side reiterating our position. India reserves the right to a suitable response to this action,” Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

He added that people who have Indian passports shouldn’t face “discrimination or differential treatment” because of where they live or their race. Also read: India-China clash in Tawang: The significance of Arunachal Pradesh to Beijing, explained Has China ever granted stapled visas to Indian nationals? According to The New York Times, nine agreements were signed in October 2013 under the supervision of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese PM Li Keqiang on issues like river sharing and cooperation against terrorism. The most noteworthy of these was the frontier Defence Cooperation Agreement, which was intended to reduce tensions along the tense 3,380-kilometre (2,100-mile) Himalayan frontier between the two Asian giants. After the Chinese Army repeatedly invaded Arunachal Pradesh in the east and Ladakh in the north, the accord had come as a huge relief to Indian defence strategists. But despite some indications of an improvement in relations between the two countries, Chinese officials insisted that their practice of giving stapled visas to people of Jammu and Kashmir (at the time including Ladakh) and Arunachal Pradesh will continue. India has constantly been against it. Due to the border conflict, Arunachal residents, whether they are government employees, bureaucrats, or athletes, have long had difficulty obtaining valid visas for China. In 2011, a 45-person Indian karate squad was scheduled to visit Quangzhou to compete in the Asian Championship. Most of the members got their visas days in advance except five Arunachal members, three players and two officials, who were held at the Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi. Why, you ask? After much delays, the Chinese Embassy issued them stapled visas. A similar problem prevented Maselo Mihu and Sorang Yumi, two teenage archers, from competing in the Archery Youth World Championship in 2013, as per The Washington Post. The Indian government had to step in before the players could finally fly to China. Bamang Tago, the manager of the Indian badminton team, was reportedly refused a Chinese visa in 2016 “on the grounds of Arunachal domiciles.” He was travelling to the neighbouring country for the China Open Superseries tournament. Also read: Explained: How India’s Vibrant Villages scheme in Arunachal is a way to secure borders along China What’s the reason behind this rift? Chinese and Indian-controlled areas are physically divided by the Line of Actual Control, which runs from the western region of Ladakh to the eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. In 1962, a border conflict broke out between China and India. In the past few years, soldiers from both sides have patrolled certain locations near the contentious border. Tensions rose after soldiers engaged in combat with fists, clubs, and stones in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh’s Karakoram Mountains in June 2020. At least four Chinese soldiers and over 20 soldiers from India were killed. Along its de facto border, both nations had tens of thousands of soldiers stationed who were supported by artillery, tanks, and fighter jets. In an effort to assert its power over territory that is part of India, the Chinese government declared in April of this year that it would “standardise” the names of 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs even placed a town near Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, on its list of 11 locations, along with a map that depicted sections of Arunachal Pradesh as being inside the southern Tibetan region that China refers to as Zangnan. India condemned the Chinese action and said that the state is an integral part of the nation. The addition of “invented” names did not change this reality, it continued. With inputs from agencies