China Bars 3 Indian Athletes from Arunachal From Asian Games, Sport Min cancels China Trip in Protest

New Delhi: China did not allow three Indian wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh to travel to Hangzhou for the Asian Games. After this incident, on Friday, Anurag Thakur, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports of India cancelled his scheduled visit to China. Apart from this India lodged a ‘strong’ protest against China over this matter.

Three Indian wushu players, Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega, and Mepung Lamgu were denied entry to China to take part in the Asian Games. The rest of the Indian Wushu team, which included seven other players and staff, flew out to Hong Kong and from there boarded a flight to Hangzhou in China.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement regarding the matter stated, that India rejects the differential treatment of Indian citizens on a domicile basis and added that China’s actions are violating the spirit of the Asian Games.

The three Indian wushu players – Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu – received their accreditation cards from the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC) which also acts as an entry visa. However, they could not download their travel documents on Wednesday when they were scheduled to leave for the Asian Games.

“Once the athletes received the accreditation cards from the organising committee, it meant that they were cleared to travel for the Asian Games. But surprisingly only these three players could not download their document and they could not board the flight,” an official said.