Meet the three Wushu athletes from Arunachal Pradesh who were denied visa by China for Asian Games 2023
Rizu Shukla
Earlier this year few Wushu players from the state were given stapled visas by China for World University Games.
China has denied entry to three Wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh, India for the Asian Games 2023 due to long-standing border conflict resulting in a diplomatic spat between the two countries. The three players belong to Arunachal Pradesh. When the team left for China on Wednesday, September 20, one of them had already received the accreditation, and the other two were waiting for it.
However, they were not allowed to board the plane because of the improper approval. The three wushu competitors – Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega, and Mepung Lamgu were scheduled to depart for China on Wednesday evening from Delhi’s IGI Airport, but they got stranded there, despite the opening ceremony and the wushu competitions starting less than 24 hours from then.
If they weren’t given accreditation, they would be blatantly violating both the Olympic Charter and the rules of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). Seven players and personnel from the Indian Wushu squad took a flight to Hong Kong before continuing to Hangzhou, China.
Meanwhile, The Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister of India, Anurag Thakur, decided to cancel his trip to China in protest of the denial of admittance to three Indian wushu players. According to the Union government, the Chinese government allegedly discriminated against Indian athletes who belong to the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The fans who were worried about Lamgu as a result of the situation got a significant update from her via social media handle X (formerly Twitter). She admitted that she spoke to her family frequently and that she was now staying in a SAI hostel. Due to their stapled visas, the same group of athletes were unable to compete at the World University Games in Chengdu, China, in July of this year.
These are the three women’s Wushu players from India who were not allowed entry to China:
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Mepung Lamgu
At the National Games in Gujarat last year, Mepung Lamgu, a 23-year-old athlete from Arunachal Pradesh, won gold medals in the Taijiquan and Taijijian all-around competitions. Lamgu also won gold in Taijiquan in the seven-day International Wushu Championship in Moscow in February 2022.
Nyeman Wangsu
The 23-year-old Wangsu, was a part of the team that participated in the inaugural Khelo India Women’s Senior National Wushu League earlier this year. Notably, Wangsu took first place in the Changquan style of Taolu (a pre-determined Wushu performance).
Onilu Tega
Onilu Tega, who was registered to compete in the 52kg category at the Asian Games in China, became well-known in October 2022 after she outlasted Manisha Bhati and proceeded to the quarterfinals in the National Games held in Gujarat last year.
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