We never recognised Arunachal Pradesh, says China after detaining Indian woman for 18 hours

China on Tuesday repeated its claim that Arunachal Pradesh was a part of China.

At a press conference, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that China had never recognised Arunachal Pradesh as part of India.

The development has come shortly after it emerged that Chinese officials harassed an Indian woman from Arunachal and detained her for 18 hours at Shanghai airport on November 21. The episode has caused outrage in India and led to India issuing a demarche to China.

“‘Zangnan’ is China’s territory. The Chinese side has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ illegally set up by India,” said Ning.

Zangnan is the name that China uses for Arunachal Pradesh. It means ‘southern Tibet’. The practice is part of China’s ‘cartographic warfare’ where China assigns Chinese names to places in other countries that it claims, such as calling Tibet ‘Xizang’ and Pinnacle islands as ‘Senkaku.

In the case of the woman’s detention, China said that officials handled the situation as per the law . But the woman as well as sources in the Indian government have said Chinese officials harassed her.

Prema Thongdok, a consultant working in the financial sector in London, told The Hindu that she was detained at the Shanghai airport for 18 hours and immigration and airlines staff were “unprofessional and rude” and mocked her. She said that officials said that Arunachal was a Chinese territory.

Thongdok said that she was told to “apply for a Chinese passport” as officials withheld her passport detained her for nearly 18 hours without food, support, or proper communication.

Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told The Hindu that such actions by the China at a time when both sides are working to improve ties introduce unnecessary obstructions to the process.