A routine layover turned into a debate over territorial sovereignty after border officials in China refused to allow an Indian woman to transit through the country and insisted her birthplace was part of Chinese territory.

Pem Wang Thongdok, an Indian citizen who has been living in Britain for over 14 years, said she was traveling from London to the Japanese city of Osaka via Shanghai, when a Chinese immigration official singled her out in the transit line.

“She went on to say Arunachal, not India , China China. Your visa not acceptable,“ Thongdok told Indian news agency, Asian News International. She added that she was told her passport was “invalid.”

At the core of the dispute is the mountainous region Arunachal Pradesh, which has a population of over 1.3 million people and is gov

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