Bollywood actor Rakesh Bedi condemns China’s claims on Arunachal amid harassment row

Bollywood actor Rakesh Bedi, who is in Arunachal Pradesh for the Arunachal Rang Mahotsav theatre festival, has strongly condemned China’s repeated and “baseless” territorial claims over the state. 

Speaking during his visit, Bedi said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and such claims hold no ground.

The remarks come amid rising anger in the state following a disturbing incident involving an Arunachalee woman, Prema Wangjom Thongdok, who alleged that Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong Airport humiliated her, declared her Indian passport “invalid,” and prevented her onward travel to Japan while she was transiting from London. Thongdok, an Indian citizen residing in the UK for nearly 14 years, said she was singled out and pulled from the immigration queue without any explanation.

Reacting to the controversy, Arunachal student Lisa Manpang told India Today NE that she was deeply hurt by China’s territorial claims and reports of harassment faced by Arunachal native women abroad. “We are born as Indian and will die as Indian,” Manpang asserted, expressing the sentiment shared widely among the state’s youth.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning repeated China’s long-standing claim over Arunachal Pradesh, referring to the region as “Zangnan” and stating that China “has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ illegally set up by India.” Mao claimed that border authorities acted “strictly according to law,” insisting that immigration checks were impartial and that the traveller’s “lawful rights and interests were fully protected.”

The incident has intensified public outrage in Arunachal Pradesh, with calls growing louder for strong diplomatic intervention to ensure the safety and dignity of Indian citizens travelling abroad.