The return of Wang Qi to enhance Sino-Indian ties

Rabi Sankar Bosu China Plus Published: 2017-02-23 18:46:05
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The return of Wang Qi to enhance Sino-Indian ties

By Rabi Sankar Bosu 

"Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong..." John Denver 

No one can really fathom the suffering of separation unless they go through it. His tearful story could be an amazing movie or novel tinged with sadness. His sad story has attracted a lot of attention from the media across the globe. His heartbreaking saga of life has moved people to tears across India and China after his plight had become viral over the social media sites. His painful story of separation and yearning for home has attracted the attention of the both governments - China and India. The Chinese Government wants his early return. But his long cherished dream to meet his family had been lost in red tape over the five decades, due to "official procedures" on the part of Indian Government. However, the joint diplomatic efforts of both governments, he had left for his native country after 54 years stranded in India on February 11, 2017 along with his family members. Left home young and return old!

He is 77-year-old veteran Wang Qi, now better known by his Indian name Raj Bahadur. He was an ex-Chinese Army surveyor who got stuck in India for 54 years. He was recruited in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1960 and was tasked with building roads for the Chinese army on the border with India. The Sino-Indian war of 1962 changed the course of his life. Weeks after the edgy war, on the New Year's Day of 1963, he got lost in the woods in the darkness near the border of China and India. He was 23 then. And that is where his long painful story begins.

According to news reports, Wang Qi strayed erroneously into India's territory, Assam where an Indian Red Cross team handed him over to the Indian Army. He spent seven years in prisons on the charge of "espionage" across India, including Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh before the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered his release in March 1969. He was handed over to the police of India's central state, Madhya Pradesh for rehabilitation in Balaghat district's Tirodi village. Since then the nondescript village has been Wang Qi's adopted home to a different land, losing his home and beloved family behind.

Wang Qi has spent most of his life in India. He started working at the paper mill as a watchman. He married a local tribal girl named Sushila in 1975 and formed his own family with three children and grandchildren. Living thousands of miles away, for 54 years, he has not lost his yearning to return to his family in China's Shaanxi Province. Despite making all efforts to travel to his birthplace at least once, he was denied permission to return to China due to his lack of official documents and his complex identity.  

Unfortunately, he was unable to see his mother who passed away in 2006, waiting for him. The travel permission was not granted by the bureaucratic Indian authorities since certain documents pertaining to his stay in India from 1963 to 2013 were not available. In May 2013, the Chinese embassy in India issued a 10-year Chinese passport to him.

Indian media has previously reported Wang's painful story and most recently, a BBC report brought up his plight again, drawing international attention to the subject. Since the news broke, the Chinese media widely reported the issue causing social media stir in China, especially on Sina Weibo where it's trending with "Chinese Veteran in India" with more than 5 million views so far. An Op-Ed article in the Global Times said: "Although it's unclear whether Wang is a prisoner of war, it is inhumane to have isolated the elderly man from his family for such a long time."

Surprisingly, the officials of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in India took almost 54 years to travel to remote Tirodi village to meet their ex-Chinese soldier Wang Qi. They assured him all possible help to visit China. It is learnt that the Chinese Embassy officials have been trying hard to facilitate and accommodate the return of Wang Qi. They had sent several communications to the Indian government for clearing documents. Chinese Ambassador Mr. Luo Zhaohui in New Delhi had a telephonic call with him and assured all help. In his conversation, Ambassador Luo expressed sympathy over the suffering Wang underwent over the years. "I instructed the Embassy to keep in touch with you, to know your ideas and provide assistance as much as possible, including the replacement of your passport," he said.

Following the media uproar, the Ministry of Home and External Affairs of India decided to intervene to help his family find their way back home. Mr. Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry of India said on Feb 9, 2017, "The Ministry is helping Wang and his family members — his son, daughter, daughter-in-law and grandson — to visit China to meet his extended family." Wang Qi has finally received an Indian passport from India's Ministry of External Affairs allowing him to leave the country. He has finally returned to his native land to meet his relatives on February 11, 2017. His accompanying family members are his son, Vishnu Wang, Neha Wang, his daughter-in-law and his granddaughter Khanak Wang. However, it is still not clear why Wang's repeated petitions to leave did not elicit any response in previous years.

Upon arrival in the evening on his homeland again in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Wang said, "Today is my happiest day in 54 years. Finally I have come back to this beautiful lovely country. Words cannot express how I feel now." After visiting his relatives in China, he has repeatedly said that he wants to return back to India to be with his Indian wife, children and grandchildren. There is no doubt that Wang's story is a positive expression of India-China cooperation, specially at a time when the two BRICS members are making unswerving efforts to further develop bilateral ties. Wang's life is a drama of pain. It is an incredible story of suffering humanity winning our hearts. Surely, the return of Wang Qi will help the Sino-Indian ties.

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LU Xiankun Professor LU Xiankun is Managing Director of LEDECO Geneva and Associate Partner of IDEAS Centre Geneva. He is Emeritus Professor of China Institute for WTO Studies of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Wuhan University (WHU) of China and visiting professor or senior research fellow of some other universities and think tanks in China and Europe. He also sits in management of some international business associations and companies, including as Senior Vice President of Shenzhen UEB Technology LTD., a leading e-commerce company of China. Previously, Mr. LU was senior official of Chinese Ministry of Commerce and senior diplomat posted in Europe, including in Geneva as Counsellor and Head of Division of the Permanent Mission of China to the WTO and in Brussels as Commercial Secretary of the Permanent Mission of China to the EU. Benjamin Cavender Benjamin Cavender is a Shanghai based consultant with more than 11 years of experience helping companies understand consumer behavior and develop go to market strategies for China. He is a frequent speaker on economic and consumer trends in China and is often featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Channel News Asia. Sara Hsu Sara Hsu is an associate professor from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She is a regular commentator on Chinese economy. Xu Qinduo Xu Qinduo is CRI's former chief correspondent to Washington DC, the United States. He works as the producer, host and commentator for TODAY, a flagship talk show on current affairs. Mr. Xu contributes regularly to English-language newspapers including Shenzhen Daily and Global Times as well as Chinese-language radio and TV services. Lin Shaowen A radio person, Mr. Lin Shaowen is strongly interested in international relations and Chinese politics. As China is quite often misunderstood in the rest of the world, he feels the need to better present the true picture of the country, the policies and meanings. So he talks a lot and is often seen debating. Then friends find a critical Lin Shaowen criticizing and criticized. George N. Tzogopoulos Dr George N. Tzogopoulos is an expert in media and politics/international relations as well as Chinese affairs. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre International de Européenne (CIFE) and Visiting Lecturer at the European Institute affiliated with it and is teaching international relations at the Department of Law of the Democritus University of Thrace. George is the author of two books: US Foreign Policy in the European Media: Framing the Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism (IB TAURIS) and The Greek Crisis in the Media: Stereotyping in the International Press (Ashgate) as well as the founder of chinaandgreece.com, an institutional partner of CRI Greek. David Morris David Morris is the Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Commissioner in China, a former Australian diplomat and senior political adviser. Harvey Dzodin After a distinguished career in the US government and American media Dr. Harvey Dzodin is now a Beijing-based freelance columnist for several media outlets. While living in Beijing, he has published over 200 columns with an emphasis on arts, culture and the Belt & Road initiative. He is also a sought-after speaker and advisor in China and abroad. He currently serves as Nonresident Research Fellow of the think tank Center for China and Globalization and Senior Advisor of Tsinghua University National Image Research Center specializing in city branding. Dr. Dzodin was a political appointee of President Jimmy Carter and served as lawyer to a presidential commission. Upon the nomination of the White House and the US State Department he served at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. He was Director and Vice President of the ABC Television in New York for more than two decades.