Chinese man trapped in India for 50 years after mistakenly crossing border
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Wang Qi, now nearly 80 years old, has been living in a remote Indian village for 50 years after mistakenly wandering over the border, trapping him there, in 1963. [Photo: BBC News]

A report by the BBC has revealed the man named Wang Qi who has had to make a life for himself away from his country for over half a century.

Born to a farmer family in Shaanxi province with four brothers and two sisters, he studied surveying and joined China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1960.Mr. Wang told the BBC he was "tasked with building roads for the Chinese army" and was captured when he wandered away from his camp and unknowingly crossed into India's territory in January 1963.

Wang Qi was able to have a video chat in January, 2017 with his now 82-year-old brother for the first time. "I couldn't recognize him. He looked so old. He said he was alive just for me," Wang Qi told the BBC. [Photo: BBC News]

"I had gone out of my camp for a stroll but lost my way. I was tired and hungry. I saw a Red Cross vehicle and asked them to help me. They handed me over to the Indian army," he said.

Indian officials stated Mr. Wang had "intruded into India" and was sent to jail. He spent the next seven years in many different jails throughout India.Upon his release in 1969, he was taken to a small remote village named Tirodi in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. The village is a five-hour drive from the nearest airport, and as no official paperwork, documents, or citizenship was ever offered to him, he has not been allowed to leave India.

Wang Qi, a former PLA soldier, was tasked with building roads when he mistakenly crossed the border into India in 1963. [Photo: BBC News]

Wang Qi made a life for himself in the village, learning Hindi, and started going by the Indian name Raj Bahadur. He then married a local girl and together they had 3 children.

"He always talked about his home in China. His family lived in utter poverty." a former neighbor Jayanti Lal Waghela told the BBC.

Mr. Wang often wrote letters to his family in China, but received his first reply only in the 1980s and they started to send each other family photos. He spoke to his mother for the first time in more than 40 years on the phone in 2002.

Wang Qi was sent to live in a remote village. There he learned to speak Hindi, married a local woman, and started a family. [Photo: BBC News]

"She said she wanted to see me as her last days were near. I said I was trying to return. I wrote letters to everyone who mattered to provide me with exit documents but nothing moved." Wang Qi recalls that he believed he was always his mother's favorite son, and hoped to return home to see her. However, she died in 2006.Senior local official Bharat Yadav agrees that there have been "deficiencies" and a "lack of interest" in the case. "There are no suspicions about his actions. If he wants to go back, we will try and help him," he said.

A photo of Wang Qi with his family in India. [Photo: BBC News]

An official at the Chinese embassy finally helped him secure a passport in 2013.

In an official response from the Chinese embassy after the BBC report, "The Chinese Embassy in India is aware of the matter and has maintained close contact with the relevant Indian authorities on this and his family. We are very sympathetic to his experience, and we are ready to provide relevant help...we believe that with the joint efforts of China and India, under the premise of respecting the wishes of the parties concerned, the matter will surely be resolved satisfactorily."

A photo of Wang Qi's siblings in China. [Photo: BBC News]

Now with a passport and a way to return to China, Wang Qi is unsure about making the journey. Understandably, he is afraid to leave the place he has lived for so many years."My family is here. Where would I go?" he says, playing with his granddaughter in his lap.

Wang Qi holds his mother's photo, sad that he was unable to see his mother one last time before she died in 2006. [Photo: BBC News]

Author： 　　　Source：CRI　　　 Editor：Yang Fan