India Protests China’s Exclusion of Athletes

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24th Sep, 2023. 11:01 pm
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Indian Sports Minister criticizes China for denying entry to three athletes at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Asian Games postponed due to COVID-19, held every four years.
Three Arunachal Pradesh athletes were barred from competing; the rest of the team was allowed.

India’s Sports Minister Anurag Thakur criticized China’s discriminatory actions, following the denial of entry to three Indian athletes for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

These Asian Games, the largest sporting event in the continent, are held every four years and were postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three female martial artists, hailing from the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China considers a disputed region often referred to as South Tibet, were prevented from traveling to the Asian Games.

In contrast, the remaining members of their 10-member squad were reportedly allowed to participate as originally planned.

“As you could see I am not in China. I am in Coimbatore, standing with my players,” Thakur told reporters on Sunday in the south Indian city.

“This discriminatory approach of a country, which is against the Olympic Charter, is not acceptable at all,” he said. “I have canceled my trip to China on these grounds as they have denied the opportunity to the players from Arunachal Pradesh to be a part of the Asian Games.”

India and China have a roughly 3,800-kilometer border that remains undefined and has been a persistent point of contention between these two prominent Asian nations.

In 2020, tensions escalated significantly following a deadly clash in the Galwan region of Ladakh, resulting in the loss of at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers’ lives.

This incident marked the most serious border confrontation between them since 1967.

Just last month, India issued a strong objection to China regarding a newly released map by Beijing. This map depicted Arunachal Pradesh as part of China’s official territory, which China refers to as South Tibet.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday that “China welcomes athletes from all countries” to attend the Asian Games, but said Beijing has never recognized Arunachal Pradesh, because the southern Tibetan region is “Chinese territory.”

It has been reported that the three Indian athletes were issued visas that were physically attached or stapled to their passports.

In contrast, the rest of India’s athletes participating in this year’s games received Asian Games badges, which also serve as their entry visas for China.

Notably, these same athletes had previously missed the opportunity to compete at the World University Games in Chengdu, China, in July due to receiving similar visa arrangements.

“The Chinese authorities have, in a targeted and pre-meditated manner, discriminated against some of the Indian sportspersons from the state of Arunachal Pradesh by denying them accreditation and entry to the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

India has also lodged a strong protest “against China’s deliberate and selective obstruction of some of our sportspersons,” the ministry said.

“Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.”

India Protests China’s Exclusion of Athletes

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