On New Year’s Day in 1963, during the Indo-China conflict of 1962, Wang Qi, a surveyor for the Chinese army tasked with building roads, decided to take a walk around his camp. However, he lost his way back to camp and ventured into Indian Territory, an incident that would fundamentally reshape his future. Wang Qi was taken into custody by the Indian army, where he attempted to clarify his circumstances without success. He was interrogated and imprisoned for seven years on charges of “illegally entering Indian territory and threatening national security”. He was released in 1969 and transported to the remote village of Tirodi in Madhya Pradesh, where he has lived ever since, with no means of returning to China. With limited alternatives, he integrated into the local community and gradually established a stable life. In 1986, he managed to send a letter to his family, and in 2002, he made his first telephone call home. It was not until 2017 that Wang Qi was permitted to return to China for a visit. The story of Wang Qi is an unfortunate instance of individuals navigating the negative externalities of the Sino-Indian War of 1962.
The War of 1962 contributed to widespread mistrust between China and India, a legacy that remains visible even today. The climate of suspicion led to severe measures, including the detention of foreign nationals. Cases such as Wang Qi’s were not uncommon within the Sino-Indian context, though few became widely known. The internment of Chinese-Indians during the later stages of the conflict tells the story of how individuals and communities are affected by conflict and geopolitical tension between India and China.
The Aftermath of 1962 War
Andy Heish was a student at a boarding school in Shillong when he, along with several classmates, was removed from class and informed that they would be relocated for an indefinite period. Similarly, in 1962, Michael Cheng and his family were taken from their home during the night and told they were being moved to a “safe location.” Together with thousands of others, including ethnic Chinese residents of Shillong, Darjeeling, Tinsukia, and Kalimpong, they were transported approximately 1,000 miles west to a detention camp in Deoli, Rajasthan, where they remained for five to six years. As tensions escalated, the Indian government implemented emergency measures that enabled the detention and relocation of individuals considered potential security risks.
The Defense of India Ordinance, Foreigners Law (Application and Amendment) Act and the Foreigners (Restricted Areas) Order developed a legal framework to incarcerate suspected individuals. The order explicitly stated “person(s) of Chinese origin” – someone “who, or either of whose parents, or any of whose grandparents, was, at any time, a Chinese national.” Around 3,000 ethnic Chinese were held in the Deoli camp following this period.
Daily Life and Struggle
Within this newly established legal framework, daily life in the Deoli camp was a struggle. The facility was unprepared for the scale of internment and quickly became overcrowded, with many detainees forced to sleep outside. Over time, some internees departed for China or resettled elsewhere, while others who considered India their home stayed back, continuing to live under conditions of instability and uncertainty, particularly during periods of renewed Sino-Indian tension. In later years, the Association of India Deoli Camp Internees, a Canada-based non-profit organization, sought to raise public awareness of their struggles, submitting petitions to Indian prime ministers in 2010, 2011, 2017 and 2022, none of which received an official response.
The experiences of Deoli internees form part of a broader pattern of unresolved cases involving Chinese detainees in India. As of 2000, two PLA soldiers captured during the 1962 war remained confined to a mental health institution following their release from detention. Yang Chen and Shih Liang, initially imprisoned on espionage charges in New Delhi and later transferred to the Central Institute of Psychiatry, were released in 2003. Reports in Indian media as recently as 2021 alleged the detention of 200 Chinese soldiers, claims that were denied by the Indian government. At present, some Chinese nationals continue to be held in custody or in undisclosed locations, while others remain unable to leave the country due to visa restrictions. These cases are based on suspicions of spying, grounds of national security or in some cases, undocumented individuals.
The struggles faced in detention extended beyond their personal circumstances and have left lasting impacts on Chinese communities, gradually transforming neighbourhoods such as Kolkata’s Chinatown. The decline is not only a loss of economic activity but has also led to the diminishing of cultural exchanges. It is also a reminder that civilizational exchange is a fragile, ongoing process, dependent not just on political stability, but on the trust and everyday interactions between people of two cultures.
